The great affair,
the love affair with life,
is to live as variously as possible,
to groom one's curiosity
like a high-spirited thoroughbred,
climb aboard,
and gallop over the thick,
sun-struck hills every day.

Where there is no risk,
the emotional terrain is flat
and unyielding,
and, despite all its dimensions,
valleys, pinnacles, and detours,
life will seem to have none of its
magnificent geography,
only a length.

It began in mystery,
and it will end in mystery,
but what a savage
and beautiful country
lies in between.

~ Diane Ackerman ~

("found poetry" from A Natural History of the Senses)

www.panhala.net/Archive/The_great_affair.html
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Diane Ackerman (born October 7 1948)


is an American author, poet, and naturalist known best for her work A Natural History of the Senses.
Her writing style, referring to her best-selling natural history books, can best be described as a blend of poetry, colloquial history, and easy-reading science.
She has taught at various universities, including Columbia and Cornell, and her essays regularly appear in distinguished popular and literary journals.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Ackerman

Interview | Diane Ackerman
Somehow, all of these things can be said of Diane Ackerman. Regal, gentle, determined and beautiful. All things that anyone who has ever read one of her 16 ...
januarymagazine.com/profiles/ackerman.html

Diane Ackerman Quotes
Quotes by Diane Ackerman - part of an extensive collection of quotations by notable women.
womenshistory.about.com/od/quotes/a/ackerman.htm -