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Guidelines

Here’s what you need to do, since time began: find something — diamond-rare or carbon-cheap, it’s all the same — and love it all you can.

It should be something close — a field, a man, a line of verse, a mouth, a child asleep — that feels like the world’s heart since time began.

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Don’t measure much or lay things out or scan; don’t save yourself for later, you won’t keep; spend yourself now on loving all you can.

It’s going to hurt. That was the risk you ran with your first breath; you knew the price was steep, that loss is what there is, since time began

subtracting from your balance. That’s the plan, too late to quibble now, you’re in too deep. Just love what you still have, while you still can. Don’t count on schemes, it’s far too short a span from the first sowing till they come to reap. One way alone to count, since time began: love something, love it hard, now, while you can.

Rhina P. Espaillat was born in the Dominican Republic in 1932 and taught high school English in New York City for many years. A master of formal verse, she is the author of numerous collections of poetry in both English and Spanish and the recipient of many awards, including the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Richard Wilbur Award. “Guidelines” is from Her Place in These Designs, published by Truman State University Press, and is reprinted with permission. Author photo by Kurt Richter.

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Here’s what you need to do, since time began: find something — diamond-rare or carbon-cheap, it’s all the same — and love it all you can.

It should be something close — a field, a man, a line of verse, a mouth, a child asleep — that feels like the world’s heart since time began.

Sponsored
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Don’t measure much or lay things out or scan; don’t save yourself for later, you won’t keep; spend yourself now on loving all you can.

It’s going to hurt. That was the risk you ran with your first breath; you knew the price was steep, that loss is what there is, since time began

subtracting from your balance. That’s the plan, too late to quibble now, you’re in too deep. Just love what you still have, while you still can. Don’t count on schemes, it’s far too short a span from the first sowing till they come to reap. One way alone to count, since time began: love something, love it hard, now, while you can.

Rhina P. Espaillat was born in the Dominican Republic in 1932 and taught high school English in New York City for many years. A master of formal verse, she is the author of numerous collections of poetry in both English and Spanish and the recipient of many awards, including the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Richard Wilbur Award. “Guidelines” is from Her Place in These Designs, published by Truman State University Press, and is reprinted with permission. Author photo by Kurt Richter.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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