Tai Chi is not poetry, but listen to this...

When I heard Wendell Berry's reading of this poem, I immediately thought of Tai Chi. Not just the form or the experience of practicing the form, but the entire Taoist way of life. Berry has lived much of his life close to the land, stewarding a family farm in Kentucky. He thinks, writes and speaks about this relationship to the earth, and to each other, with reverence.  Listen to the poet reading and maybe you will agree.

Poet, novelist, farmer Wendell Berry

 
HOW TO BE A POET
(to remind myself)

Make a place to sit down.
Sit down. Be quiet.
You must depend upon
affection, reading, knowledge,
skill — more of each
than you have — inspiration,
work, growing older, patience,
for patience joins time
to eternity. Any readers
who like your poems,
doubt their judgment.

Breathe with unconditional breath
the unconditioned air.
Shun electric wire.
Communicate slowly. Live
a three-dimensioned life;
stay away from screens.
Stay away from anything
that obscures the place it is in.
There are no unsacred places;
there are only sacred places
and desecrated places.

Accept what comes from silence.
Make the best you can of it.
Of the little words that come
out of the silence, like prayers
prayed back to the one who prays,
make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.