• "Words for Worry" by Li-Young_Lee

  • Dec 14 2021
  • Length: 10 mins
  • Podcast

"Words for Worry" by Li-Young_Lee

Listen for free

View show details

  • Summary

  • Today we will be looking at the poem "Words for Worry" by Li-Young Lee.


    Bio: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/li-young-lee


    The Poem:

    Words for Worry

    by Li-Young Lee

    Another word for father is worry.


    Worry boils the water

    for tea in the middle of the night.


    Worry trimmed the child’s nails before

    singing him to sleep.


    Another word for son is delight,

    another word, hidden.


    And another is One-Who-Goes-Away.

    Yet another, One-Who-Returns.


    So many words for son:

    He-Dreams-for-All-Our-Sakes.

    His-Play-Vouchsafes-Our-Winter-Share.

    His-Dispersal-Wins-the-Birds.


    But only one word for father.

    And sometimes a man is both.

    Which is to say sometimes a man

    manifests mysteries beyond

    his own understanding.


    For instance, being the one and the many,

    and the loneliness of either. Or


    the living light we see by, we never see. Or


    the sole word weighs

    heavy as a various name.


    And sleepless worry folds the laundry for tomorrow.

    Tired worry wakes the child for school.


    Orphan worry writes the note he hides

    in the child’s lunch bag.

    It begins, Dear Firefly….
    Show More Show Less
Show More Show Less

What listeners say about "Words for Worry" by Li-Young_Lee

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.com.au reviews

Amazon Reviews
No Reviews are Available
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.