David Whyte: "People are hungry, and one good word is bread for a thousand."
DAVID WHYTE is also a lecturer, and corporate consultant.
He's an adventurous poet . . .
He has a degree in marine zoology.
Has worked as a naturalist guide in the Galapagos Islands.
Led natural history and anthropological expeditions in Chile, Bolivia,and Peru.
Traveled to India and Nepal.
DAVID WHYTE uses poetry in corporate settings to help others deal with change, and to encourage creativity in individual employees, and in organizations.
Table of Contents
- This Week's Featured Poem
- David Whyte's Poetry Bookshelf
- Poem: Self Portrait
- Links for David Whyte
- David Whyte on YouTube
- 2010 Scheduled Appearances in the U.S. / Canada
- 2010 Scheduled Appearances U.K. / Europe
- Poem: The Lightest Touch
- David White on CD
- David Whyte on YouTube
- Poetry Cards and Boxed Sets
- Poem: Loaves and Fishes
- Work and Creativity
- The Artist's Journey 1
- The Artist's Journey 2
- The Artist's Journey 3
- The Artist's Journey 4
- Poem: The Well of Grief
- Poem: What to Remember When Waking
- Poem: Mameen
- More Poetry Lenses
This Week's Featured Poem
by David Whyte
ANCESTRALFar up and off
behind my mother's voice,
my mother's mother's voice,
like a lark call
above the dark meadows
of sleep,
a high up
pure and
sudden annunciation,
a strain she'd
carried all along
and me caught
in the song,
slipping
off to other voices,
my father's, father's,
father's work
in the fields
over Hartshead,
my mother's, father's father
fighting
from village to village
and the body
of my father's brother
rolling in the
channel tides.
Each life a traveler
not yet really arrived,
like passing strangers,
the lanterns
half cloaked,
showing a glimmer
at the doors
of the living,
half
looking for
shelter,
half wanting
to stumble on
beyond us
to what waits,
some place perhaps
in the brimming dark
where
the story ends.
pic above: anonymouse_album / photobucket / Hartshead Pike
art below: bender0215 / photobucket
***
like a lark call above the dark meadows of sleep
David Whyte's Poetry Bookshelf
Fire in the Earth
Amazon Price: $17.00 (as of 02/06/2010) 
Songs for Coming Home: Poems
David Whyte's first book of poetry.
Amazon Price: $16.00 (as of 02/06/2010)
Where Many Rivers Meet: Poems
Amazon Price: $11.56 (as of 02/06/2010)
Everything Is Waiting for You
Amazon Price: $14.53 (as of 02/06/2010)
House of Belonging
Amazon Price: $12.24 (as of 02/06/2010)
New and Selected Poems
River Flow: New & Selected Poems 1984-2007
Amazon Price: $26.40 (as of 02/06/2010)
RIVER FLOW contains over one hundred poems selected from five previously published works, together with twenty-three new poems, including a tribute to an Ethiopian woman navigating her first escalator, a meditation of love and benediction for his young daughter, and a cycle of Irish poems that convey his deep love of the land and life-long appreciation for its wisdom. (amazon)
David Whyte grew up in Yorkshire, England
Poem: Self Portrait
SELF PORTRAIT
It doesn't interest me if there is one God
or many gods.
I want to know if you belong or feel
abandoned.
If you know despair or can see it in others.
I want to know
if you are prepared to live in the world
with its harsh need
to change you. If you can look back
with firm eyes
saying this is where I stand. I want to know
if you know
how to melt into that fierce heat of living
falling toward
the center of your longing. I want to know
if you are willing
to live, day by day, with the consequence of love
and the bitter
unwanted passion of your sure defeat.
I have been told, in that fierce embrace, even
the gods speak of God.
~ David Whyte, from Fire In the Earth
Links for David Whyte
- David Whyte Calendar
- A lot of information here, including his calendar of events, books, his poems.
- David Whyte DVD
- This is a page at Thinking Allowed where you can purchase a Whyte DVD called Preserving the Soul.
- Engaging Life's Conversation
- An interview with David Whyte; mp3 down-loadable.
- Jak's Poetry Shop
- David Whyte has his own section at Jak's Poetry Shop
- Men's Issues: Poetry and Personal Passion by David Whyte
- Comprehensive men's issues site: men spirit and soul; mythopoetyc, etc.
Here you'll find a written compilation of a couple interviews with David Whyte. - Interview with David Whyte
- D.W: I see myself as being an English poet, an Irish poet, and a Northwestern poet. Perhaps even more interestingly, I´m not sure I would ever call myself an American poet, I think the first two disqualify me. But certainly there is a body of my work which would make me out as a Northwestern poet . . .
- Audio: Work
- Recordings for sale of talks, by D. Whyte, in organizational settings.
- General Audio
- More D.W. CDs for sale: several topics.
David Whyte on YouTube
David Whyte - The Journey
A clip from speaker David Whyte, a renowned poet and author, speaking at the 2009 Psychotherapy Networker Symposium. To learn about the upcoming 2010 Psychotherapy Networker Symposium, or to hear more from the 2009 Psychotherapy Networker Symposium, visit http://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/
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He studied marine zoology in Wales
2010 Scheduled Appearances in the U.S. / Canada
- February 19-21
What to Remember When Waking: Disciplines that Transform an Everyday Life. Weekend workshop sponsored by The Sophia Institute. Charleston, South Carolina - March 19
Workshop and evening poetry reading at Los Angeles Religious Education Congress. Anaheim, CA - April 17
Insight Lecture Series and The Well of Light present David Whyte in Grass Valley, CA . Title tba. For more information, please contact Suzie Daggett on 530.265.9255 or visit Insight Directory. - May 21
Keynote lecture at Life Lines Conference, Duke University: The Power & Place of Poetry. Durham, NC. 7:30 - 9:00pm. For questions, please contact Grey Brown.
2010 Scheduled Appearances U.K. / Europe
- March 22-23
Third of three part Salon Series sponsored by The Beyond Partnership. Self Knowledge: The Inner Foundations of a Robust Outer Life, Lambourn, UK http://tiny.cc/Kn8L3
On the Galapagos Islands he worked as a naturalist
Poem: The Lightest Touch
The Lightest TouchGood poetry begins with
the lightest touch,
a breeze arriving from nowhere,
a whispered healing arrival,
a word in your ear,
a settling into things,
then like a hand in the dark
it arrests the whole body,
steeling you for revelation.
In the silence that follows
a great line
you can feel Lazarus
deep inside
even the laziest, most deathly afraid
part of you,
lift up his hands and walk toward the light.
~ David Whyte ~
from Everything is Waiting for You
David White on CD
David Whyte on YouTube
Poetry Cards and Boxed Sets
- Poetry Cards
- Sets of cards with the poetry of David Whyte. Envelopes included; one poem per card.
Set 1 has 6 cards, $12.00
Set 2 has 6 cards, $12.00
Set 3 has 6 cards, $12.00 - Boxed Sets
- A Quartet: boxed set with four of his poetry books.
6 CDs: Clear Mind, Wild Heart; Finding Courage; Clarity Through Poetry. (cassettes available)
6 CDs: Footsteps, A Writing LIfe
Current home is in the Pacific Northwest, USA
Poem: Loaves and Fishes
One of my favorites!
Loaves and FishesThis is not the age of information.
This is not
the age of information.
Forget the news,
and the radio,
and the blurred screen.
This is the time
of loaves
and fishes.
People are hungry,
and one good word is bread
for a thousand.
~ David Whyte ~ from The House of Belonging
Work and Creativity
Most Recent Release
The Three Marriages: Reimagining Work, Self and Relationship
Amazon Price: $17.13 (as of 02/06/2010)
Drawing from his own experience and the lives of some of the world's great writers and poets, David Whyte brings compelling insights to our three most important commitments- to another, to our work, and to ourselves-to frame a complete picture of a satisfying life.
There are three crucial relationships, or marriages, in our lives: the marriage or partnership with a significant other, the commitment we have to our work, and the vows, spoken or unspoken, we make to an inner, constantly developing self. In The Three Marriages, the bestselling author, poet, and speaker, argues that it is not possible to sacrifice one relationship for the others without causing deep psychological damage. (amazon)
Crossing The Unknown Sea (excerpt)
. . . D. W.'s thoughts about keeping integrity
Crossing the Unknown Sea
The Artist's Journey 1
1/4. David Whyte: Jerry Wennstrom's artistic journey
David Whyte calls on his poem "Tilicho Lake" in describing artist, author Jerry Wennstrom's creative journey. He defines Wennstrom's encounter with the void as as "the ultimate artistic step." In 1979 Jerry Wennstrom took the ultimate artistic step -- he destroyed his large body of art, gave away his possessions and leapt into a creative void that required deeper faith and "trust in the Great Belonging." David Whyte originally offered this testimony in the documentary film, "In the Hands of Alchemy: The Art and Life of Jerry Wennstrom" (Parabola and Sentient Publications videos.) Jerry Wennstrom destroyed his life's work (all his paintings) when he saw that his art had become a "false god" to him. He looked instead find God and creativity in all that he did in everyday life. Following this experience Jerry lived with only what life presented to him. In Part One, David Whyte's inspiring discourse is both gripping and challenging. Whyte talks about facing death in all its manifestations. He refers often to Wennstrom's art and his path, but Whyte's wisdom and message is for anyone who has faced the metaphoric death of an identity that no longer served their lives. Thanks to Paul Adams and David Hoffman for use of their music "Zorro and the Fat Man." See http://www.pauladams.org to listen to this piece and others. For more information about Whyte visit http://www.davidwhyte.com. For more info about Jerry Wennstrom's recent art, films or his book, "The Inspired Heart" visit http://www.handsofalchemy.com There is also a second channel with more videos about Jerry Wennstrom at http://www.youtube.com/user/JerryWennstrom, or find them on this channel's playlist.
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The Artist's Journey 2
2/4. David Whyte: Jerry Wennstrom, Finding Inspired New Life in Emptiness
Poet David Whyte draws on a poem by DH Lawrence to describe artist, author Jerry Wennstrom's journey through the void in the larger context of classic "artistic tradition." In 1979 Jerry Wennstrom took the ultimate artistic step -- he destroyed his large body of art, gave away his possessions and leapt into a creative void that required deeper faith and "trust in the Great Belonging." Jerry Wennstrom destroyed his life's work (all his paintings) when he saw that his art had become a "false god" to him. He looked instead find God and creativity in all that he did in everyday life. Following this experience Jerry lived with only what life presented to him. In Part Two, David Whyte's inspiring discourse is both gripping and challenging. Using poetry of Dante, DH Lawrence, and Keats, Whyte talks about the courage needed to face death in all its manifestations. Whyte quotes Dante from his "Divine Comedy:" "It the middle of the world of my life, I awoke in middle of the dark wood, where the true way was wholly lost." Whyte elaborates Dante was lost to the world, lost to himself and that there is a wisdom of allowing yourself to be lost in the world. "...there is a particular kind of attentiveness, and a particularly scintillating way in which you look at the world, which you would not have if you thought you knew where you were....If your life is at stake, you are looking for every clue to help you survive.... The artist who steps into this space actually feels like his life IS at stake. You could die, literally, or you could live in a completely different way. Your senses are alive to every moment and every thing that comes your way." -DW This decision "exiled Wennstrom from his discipline, exiled him from his inheritance, and cast him out into the dark." Thanks to Paul Adams and David Hoffman for use of their music "Zorro and the Fat Man." See http://www.pauladams.org to listen to this piece and others. For more information about Whyte visit www.davidwhyte.com. For more info about Jerry Wennstrom's recent art, films or his book, "The Inspired Heart" visit www.handsofalchemy.com David Whyte originally offered this testimony in the documentary film, "In the Hands of Alchemy: The Art and Life of Jerry Wennstrom" (Parabola and Sentient Publications videos).
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The Artist's Journey 3
3/4. David Whyte: Jerry Wennstrom - Companionship with the disappearing light
Poet David Whyte offers his poem "Faith" and delves into the "dark side" when he discusses how to become friends with the shadows, the waning moon, and the disappearing light. Why is it, he wonders, why all around us has the cycle of life and death, dark and light, yet we humans expect that we should always be growing like the waxing moon? He continues to explain the importance of artist Jerry Wennstrom's decision to destroy all his life's work, and throw himself off the precipice into the unknown. The question the artist is always demanding of the world: Will you look..will you see...will you hear? See more of Wennstrom's life and art on http://www.handsofalchemy.com. David Whyte's website is http://www.davidwhyte.com Music courtesy of Paul Adams and horn player David Hoffman: "Zorro and the Fat Man" from their album "Global Dancing on Wonder Bop." See http://www.pauladams.org.
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The Artist's Journey 4
4/4. David Whyte: Jerry Wennstrom - Through darkness to innocence
As famed poet David Whyte sees it, Jerry Wennstrom's courageous journey through the eye of darkness led him not to a life of bitterness and sadness, but to a place of inner strength where he claims and expresses the heart of innocence in both his life and his art. Is there a need for this in today's society? Whyte states, "I think one of the things that we are desperate for now in the Post Modern world is a first-hand experience of creation. And we're tired of talking about the world, and we're tired of observing the world through various media and we want to be actually present to it and affected by it in a very innocent way." To learn more about Jerry's life and art, see the many programs on the Marjercom and JerryWennstrom YouTube channel. Or visit his website at http://www.handofalchemy.com. Learn more about David Whyte at http://www.davidwhyte.com. Music courtesty Paul Adams and horn player David Hoffman from their "Global Dancing on Wonder Bop" album, http://www.pauladams.org.
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Poem: The Well of Grief
THE WELL OF GRIEFThose who will not slip beneath
the still surface on the well of grief
turning downward through its black water
to the place we cannot breathe
will never know the source from which we drink,
the secret water, cold and clear,
nor find in the darkness glimmering
the small round coins
thrown by those who wished for something else.
~ Davie Whyte, from Many Rivers Meet
Leave Comments Here!
Feedback is always welcome . . .
-
Reply
- praise praise Jan 24, 2010 @ 5:01 pm
- Wonderful lens and full of great poetry, 5*.
Cheers,
Debra
-
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- andreaberrios andreaberrios Jul 24, 2009 @ 2:20 pm
- This lens is beautiful love poetry and this one is amazing! 5*
-
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- MattTaylor MattTaylor Feb 8, 2009 @ 3:18 pm
- Thank you for telling me about David Whyte! 5***** from me...
Matt
-
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- Jewelsofawe Jewelsofawe Aug 12, 2008 @ 11:30 am
- Wow! I love his poetry. Great stuff! 5 *****
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Poem: What to Remember When Waking
What to Remember When Waking
In that first hardly noticed moment in which you wake,
coming back to this life from the other
more secret, moveable and frighteningly honest world
where everything began,
there is a small opening into the new day
which closes the moment you begin your plans.
What you can plan is too small for you to live.
What you can live wholeheartedly will make plans enough
for the vitality hidden in your sleep.
To be human is to become visible
while carrying what is hidden as a gift to others.
To remember the other world in this world
is to live in your true inheritance.
You are not a troubled guest on this earth,
you are not an accident amidst other accidents
you were invited from another and greater night
than the one from which you have just emerged.
Now, looking through the slanting light of the morning window
toward the mountain presence of everything that can be
what urgency calls you to your one love?
What shape waits in the seed of you
to grow and spread its branches
against a future sky?
Is it waiting in the fertile sea?
In the trees beyond the house?
In the life you can imagine for yourself?
In the open and lovely white page on the writing desk?
~ David Whyte ~
Poem: Mameen
MameenBe infinitessimal under that sky, a creature
even the sailing hawk misses, a wraith
among the rocks where the mist parts slowly.
Recall the way mere mortals are overwhelmed
by circumstance, how great reputations
dssolve with infirmity and how you,
in particular, live a hairsbreadth from losing
everyone you hold dear.
Then, look back down the path as if seeing
your past and then south over the hazy blue
coast as if present to a wide future.
Remember the way you are all possibilities
you can see and how you live best
as an appreciator of horizons,
whether you reach them or not.
Admit that once you have got up
from your chair and opened the door,
once you have walked out into the clean air
toward that edge and taken the path up high
beyond the ordinary, you have become
the privileged and the pilgrim,
the one who will tell the story
and the one, coming back
from the mountain,
who helped to make it.
~ David Whyte ~ from River Flow
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