J.P. White
If the World Is to Go On
Everything unknown softens when you look at it a second time.
The first time we see fear and suspicion
Or some memory that’s been hunting us.
The second time we look,
We don’t reach after argument or conclusion.
We sag a bit in our stance. We take in more
Of the entire field in which the other sits.
Lovers and enemies know this better than anyone.
When they pause, take a breath
And look again at their part in the quarrel
They find a way back to the table.
If the world is to go on,
We will need to take more time with it
Because everything and everyone will need to be seen twice
And held for a moment longer.
J.P. White is the author of the poetry collections The Sleeper at the Party (Defined Providence Press, 2001), The Salt Hour (The University of Illinois Press, 2001), The Pomegranate Tree Speaks from the Dictator’s Garden (Holy Cow Press, 1988), and In Pursuit of Wings (Panache Books, 1978). His essays, articles, fiction, reviews, interviews and poetry have appeared in The Nation, The New Republic, The New York Times Book Review, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Gettysburg Review, American Poetry Review, Sewanee Review, Shenandoah, Prairie Schooner, and many other journals and anthologies. He holds a BA from New College, an MA from Colorado State University, and an MFA from Vermont College. He lives on Lake Minnetonka near Minneapolis.
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