Friday, April 18, 2008

You Are Not Lost

I have been feeling a bit lost lately, so this was very poignant to me today:

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.


Source: "Lost", David Wagoner in Good Poems, selected by Garrison Keillor

via

2 comments:

Kel said...

if you are lost - stand still
what words of wisdom

usually when lost, we rush around even faster, trying to find our way

thanx for sharing this

Anonymous said...

I guess "lost" is part of the human condition...maybe that's why we need a Shepherd.

I loved this poem. I'm so given to anxiety-producing fluttering...like a butterfly on espresso.