That Will to Divest
Action creates
a taste
for itself.
Meaning: once
you’ve swept
the shelves
of spoons
and plates
you kept
for guests,
it gets harder
not to also
simplify the larder,
not to dismiss
rooms, not to
divest yourself
of all the chairs
but one, not
to test what
singleness can bear,
once you’ve begun.
– Kay Ryan
Robert Bly chose this poem for The Best American Poetry 1999. That Will to Divest first appeared in The Yale Review. Find Kay Ryan’s books here.
— sdh