the art of losing isn't hard to master
Tuesday, 13 October 2026 23:02I'm not big on poems - I've always been more familiar with prose, and never had any big incentive to read or study poetry. so I know very few poems. my favorite one is this:
One Art
Elizabeth Bishop
it's my favorite because I've really mastered the art of losing. I lost the city I grew up in, my childhood friends, my culture, myself; I lose friends all the time, to the point where I don't bat an eye anymore. I lost the fandom (hp) that was the biggest part of me for most of my life, lost my youth to depression, lost my chance to have firsts. the art of losing isn't hard to master, so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost.
but losing tbz is hurting so much. my god.
my second favorite poem is the classic:
"I'm Nobody! Who are you?" (260)
Emily Dickinson
One Art
Elizabeth Bishop
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 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 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’s not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
it's my favorite because I've really mastered the art of losing. I lost the city I grew up in, my childhood friends, my culture, myself; I lose friends all the time, to the point where I don't bat an eye anymore. I lost the fandom (hp) that was the biggest part of me for most of my life, lost my youth to depression, lost my chance to have firsts. the art of losing isn't hard to master, so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost.
but losing tbz is hurting so much. my god.
my second favorite poem is the classic:
"I'm Nobody! Who are you?" (260)
Emily Dickinson
I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you - Nobody - too?
Then there's a pair of us!
Dont tell! they'd banish us - you know!
How dreary - to be - Somebody!
How public - like a Frog -
To tell your name - the livelong June -
To an admiring Bog!