W.S. Merwin

W.S. Merwin (1927-2019) born in New York City, William Stanley Merwin was the son of a Presbyterian minister, for whom he began writing hymns at the age of five. Appointed United States Poet Laureate by the Library of Congress in 2010, William Stanley Merwin had a career that spanned seven decades. A poet, translator, gardener and environmental activist, Merwin has become one of the most widely read and honored poets in America. He died at home, in Maui, at the age of 91, in the house he built, among the thousands of palms he planted, in March of 2019.

A Momentary Creed

I believe in the ordinary day

that is here at this moment and is me

I do not see it going its own way

but I never saw how it came to me

it extends beyond whatever I may

think I know and all that is real to me

it is the present that it bears away

where has it gone when it has gone from me

there is no place I know outside today

except for the unknown all around me

the only presence that appears to stay

everything that I call mine it lent me

even the way that I believe the day

for as long as it is here and is me

— W.S. Merwin