Finding Pushkin

The man comes to understand the poet's love within himself: enduring, bittersweet, illuminating. Still, as in all types of love, there is too much desire to quickly give it away, all of it. Patience, young poet! It is but a budding seed, barely breaking out from its shell, out from the earth. No doubt love's light is too bright for one to bear, but in order to grow a tree, one must not be too quick to harvest in the hope of finding fruit.

So he learns.

"Loneliness is the human condition. Cultivate it. The way it tunnels into you allows your soul room to grow. Never expect to outgrow loneliness. Never hope to find people who will understand you, someone to fill that space. An intelligent, sensitive person is the exception, the very great exception. If you expect to find people who will understand you, you will grow murderous with disappointment. The best you’ll ever do is to understand yourself, know what it is that you want, and not let the cattle stand in your way."

— Janet Fitch (via A Poet Reflects)