Sojourns in the Parallel World

　　by Denise Levertov

　　 We live our lives of human passions，

　　 cruelties， dreams， concepts，

　　 crimes and the exercise of virtue

　　 in and beside a world devoid

　　 of our preoccupations， free

　　 from apprehension--though affected，

　　 certainly， by our actions. A world

　　 parallel to our own though overlapping.

　　 We call it "Nature"； only reluctantly

　　 admitting ourselves to be "Nature" too.

　　 Whenever we lose track of our own obsessions，

　　 our self-concerns， because we drift for a minute，

　　 an hour even， of pure （almost pure）

　　 response to that insouciant life：

　　 cloud， bird， fox， the flow of light， the dancing

　　 pilgrimage of water， vast stillness

　　 of spellbound ephemerae on a lit windowpane，

　　 animal voices， mineral hum， wind

　　 conversing with rain， ocean with rock， stuttering

　　 of fire to coal--then something tethered

　　 in us， hobbled like a donkey on its patch

　　 of gnawed grass and thistles， breaks free.

　　 No one discovers

　　 just where we've been， when we're caught up again

　　 into our own sphere （where we must

　　 return， indeed， to evolve our destinies）

　　 --but we have changed， a little.