The

a   r   t                                                                   of




l
o
s
i
n
g

                                        isn’t hard to master;

so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something

e
v
e
r
y



d
a
y

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 travel.

None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother’s watch.
And look!

• my last,
• or next-to-last
• of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

I lost two cities,

lovely ones.

And, vaster, some realms I owned,

two  r i v e r s ,  a    c o n t i n e n t

.

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’s not too hard to master though it may look like

(Write it!)

like disaster.