In Borrowed Light
By: George Bourganos
In borrowed light
Full moon shall reign
In silver skies
Oh! arrogant glow
Of youth in bloom
How all in vain!
Wise owl cries
King Sun will show
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| "Moon, Lake, Stars", oil, by Tom Brown |
[Here's the same poem in Greek, the poet's first language.]
Με δανεικό φως
Πανσέληνος θα κυριαρχήσει
Σε ουρανούς ασημενιους
Ω!Αλαζονικη λάμψη
Νεωτητας που ανθεί
Πόσο όλα ματαια
Η σοφή κουκουβαγια κραυγάζει
Ο Βασιλιάς Ηλιος θα λάμψει
Στου Σφετεριστη τη καταστροφή
The father of one of my students recently wrote this poem about the moon making light only by “borrowing” it from the sun, and it seemed like a message to me to relax and make more of a holiday of each day. All too often I fall into the belief that I have to make all the light in my life – that a small, separate "me" is the maker of all the things in my life that shine and are successful. It’s as if when I rise each morning I must flip some switch inside me that throws out light and lets life be bright and productive, since if I don’t do the lighting, little will be left for the day but darkness. It’s a strange approach to life, as strange as the moon making a big deal about shining as well as possible when all the while it’s borrowing, without effort, the endlessly bright light of the sun. I shine each day, each moment, because something shows up each moment to make it happen – the same something that started “the big bang” billions of years ago and keeps bringing power to the universe second by second. My blood pumps for the same reason that rivers run and wings bring birds across the skies – because there’s a force that fills the universe with liveliness. When I raise my arm, it’s the sparkling, vivacious universe that does it. I don’t have to make it happen, just marvel at the fact that it does
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