The word faith means that when someone sees
A dew-drop or a floating leaf, and knows
That they are, because they have to be.
And even if you dreamed, or closed your eyes
And wished, the world would still be what it was,
And the leaf would still be carried down the river.
It means that when someone’s foot is hurt
By sharp rock, he also knows that rocks
Are here so they can hurt our feet.
Look, see the long shadow cast by the tree;
And flowers and people
throw shadows on the earth:
What has no shadow has no strength to live.
Czeslaw Miloz
(trans. Robert Hass)
