• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

The Merwin Conservancy

We tend a garden that speaks to the world.

  • About
    • Our Story
    • W.S. Merwin
    • The Home & Garden
    • Staff & Garden Team
    • Directors & Advisors
    • Volunteers
  • Garden
    • A Walk in the Garden
    • Open Garden Days
    • School Visits
    • Artists in the Garden
    • Garden Gallery
  • Fellowships & Residencies
    • Merwin Creative Teaching Fellowship
    • Multidisciplinary Residencies
  • Gatherings
    • The Green Room
    • Pe‘ahi Stories: A Place Literacy Project
    • Garden of Verses 2022: Virtual Event
    • Memorial Events & Tributes
  • Journal
    • Poems
    • Palms
    • Directorʻs Notes
    • In Good Company
    • News & Events
    • Pe‘ahi Stories
    • Storied Objects
  • The Sitting Room
  • Donate
You are here: Home / Poems / “Sight,” by W.S. Merwin

“Sight,” by W.S. Merwin

February 5, 2021 By Merwin Conservancy

The Evergreen State


SIGHT

Once
a single cell
found that it was full of light
and for the first time there was seeing

when
I was a bird
I could see where the stars had turned
and I set out on my journey

high
in the head of a mountain goat
I could see across a valley
under the shining trees something moving

deep
in the green sea
I saw two sides of the water
and swam between them

I
look at you
in the first light of the morning
for as long as I can

— W.S. Merwin, from his book The Rain in the Trees (Knopf, 1988).  Copyright © 1988 by W.S. Merwin.  Used by permission of the publishers.


To browse through our archive of previously posted poems click here.

To support the preservation of W.S. Merwin’s legacy and our efforts to preserve his home and palm forest for future generations, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to The Merwin Conservancy.

Share this:

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Footer

SUBSCRIBE TO MONTHLY UPDATES

Search this Site

LATEST FROM THE JOURNAL

Uprooting and Renewal

Scientist-in-Residence: Dr. Bill Baker (January 2023)

CONNECT

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube

The Merwin Conservancy

P.O. Box 809 
Haiku, HI 96708 
808-579-8876
info@merwinconservancy.org

  • Subscribe
  • Read Our Newsletter
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023 The Merwin Conservancy · Log in

 

Loading Comments...