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# In Memory: Wendell Berry
- URL: https://mereorthodoxy.com/in-memory-wendell-berry/
- Published: 2026-09-02T11:00:03.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-02T11:00:03.000Z
- Description: an attempt to say what Mr. Berry of Port Royal meant to us
- Author: Mere Orthodoxy
- Tags: Gracy Olmstead, Poetry, Obituary

Well, you've gone along ahead—  
We shouldn't be surprised (but we are).  
You've always walked ahead of us,  
Looking back with kindness, calling  
Our company to the good and right way.

Your vision of the world has oriented us  
Helped us look, and see, and listen,  
Showed us where to plant our feet, and where  
We must surrender. It is always both,  
You said, the giving and the grounding.

"Life is a miracle." Yours taught us  
The beauty of resilience and surrender  
Like trees rooted deep in sloping hills, aglow  
As embers nestled in their hearth, savvy  
As wild creatures nesting near the river.

"We live the given life." You never said  
It would be easy. But to abandon profit,  
To praise the beauty of our places,  
To reject the mindset of machines,  
This is a givenness that gives generously.

"Be joyful, despite all the facts." We'll try.  
It may be a bit harder now—indeed  
For a little while longer now, we'll need  
Plenty of reminders;  
Thankfully, you've written some down for us.

You knew we'd need a guide, a Virgil for our journey,  
An Edgar to take our blindness by the hand;  
We all need help as we step into the dark.  
With immense kindness, you've been our Dante.  
We won't stop following now.