A good poem

The Three Goals
by David Budbill

The first goal is to see the thing itself in and for itself,
to see it simply and clearly
for what it is.

No symbolism, please.
The second goal is to see each individual thing
as unified, as one, with all the other
ten-thousand things.

In this regard, a little wine helps a lot.

The third goal is to grasp the first and second goals,
to see the universal and the particular,
simultaneously.

Regarding this one, call me when you get it.

From Good Poems.
Garrison Keillor's selected poetry as heard on The Writer's Almanac.