How It Seems to Me
POETRY FORMAT, 31 Dec 2018
Ursula K. Le Guin – TRANSCEND Media Service
In the vast abyss before time, self
is not, and soul commingles
with mist, and rock, and light. In time,
soul brings the misty self to be.
Then slow time hardens self to stone
while ever lightening the soul,
till soul can loose its hold of self
and both are free and can return
to vastness and dissolve in light,
the long light after time.
_________________________________________________
Ursula K. Le Guin (21 Oct 1929 – 22 Jan 2018) was an American novelist who worked mainly in the genres of fantasy and science fiction, and authored children’s books, short stories, poetry, and essays. Her writing was first published in the 1960s and often depicted futuristic or imaginary alternative worlds in politics, the natural environment, gender, religion, sexuality, and ethnography. In 2016, The New York Times described her as “America’s greatest living science fiction writer.” She won the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, Locus Award, and World Fantasy Award, each more than once. In 2014, she was awarded the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. In 2003, she was made a Grandmaster of Science Fiction, one of a few women writers to take the top honor in the genre
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 31 Dec 2018.
Anticopyright: Editorials and articles originated on TMS may be freely reprinted, disseminated, translated and used as background material, provided an acknowledgement and link to the source, TMS: How It Seems to Me, is included. Thank you.
If you enjoyed this article, please donate to TMS to join the growing list of TMS Supporters.
This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.
Thanks for this splendid, little poem-offering on the eve of a New Year. In 10 short lines Le Guin has us pondering our souls and ourselves, time and eternity, light and comprehension.
I have thought of Le Guin principally as a science-fiction writer. Thanks to this poem and Maria Popova’s article on Le Guin and the Tao Te Ching–an article I look forward to reading before 2019!–I’ve a greater appreciation of Ursula K.’s work and I will look forward to delving more seriously.