I'm doing 23 things
The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
So many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster;
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to tavel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved homes went.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms owned, two rivers, a continent,
I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.
—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing isn’t hard to master
thought it may seem like (write it)
disaster.
—Elizabeth Bishop
