Saint Francis and the Sow
The bud
stands for all things,
even for those things that don’t flower,
for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;
though sometimes it is necessary
to reteach a thing its loveliness,
to put a hand on its brow
of the flower
and retell it in words and in touch
it is lovely
until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing…
From A New Selected Poems by Galway Kinnell (1927–2014)
“In my reading of this part of the poem by Galway Kinnell, the bud, meaning the seed, stands for all things. Everything is a bud even those things that don’t flower. Galway doesn’t stop there. He says everything should flower but sometimes it’s necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness. Maybe we need to have someone put a hand on our brow of headache, of anger, of depression, self-criticism, anxiety, procrastination until it flowers again from within of self-blessing. Maybe we need someone to reteach us this loveliness. Maybe we need something to retell it that it is lovely. That’s Galway’s vision. I think that’s the vision of unshaming. Everything is a bud and if we retell it in words and touch it becomes lovely.”
David Bedrick, JD, DIPL PW, author of
The Unshaming Way:
A 3-Part Model for Dismantling Shame
