The time will come

when, with elation

you will greet yourself arriving

at your own door, in your own mirror

and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored

for another, who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,

peel your own image from the mirror.

Sit. Feast on your life.

    – Love After Love, Derek Walcott

Rest in peace, Derek Walcott.

You can read more reflections on Walcott’s wonderful poetry at the BrainPickings site, and you can hear readings in his own voice at the Library of Congress.  Favorite publications include The Poetry of Derek Walcott and perhaps his most well-known work, the epic Omeros.

Dear Honeybees, today, I hope you feast!