“Coming Close,” Philip Levine, 1991

Levine’s poem, “Coming Close,” is a great poem for thinking about aspects of vocation. In the narrow sense of vocation (jobs and careers), the poem makes us reconsider our assumptions and valuations for meaningful work. In the broad sense of vocation (one’s callings in life), the poem brings to mind what presence and empathy require of us. As Levine asserts, every place has a language, every reality has its own version of “why,” and every act of being present and empathetic has potential to mark us, now and forever. In order for us to truly understand each other’s experience of vocation, we must be prepared to “come close” and “spend shift after shift” in their place.