Tuesday, February 28, 2012

David Wagoner's Lost

The previous entry had a pseudo-poem I attempted to write. I present here a poem by Wagoner that has touched me beyond what I can describe with words.  I feel so inadequate that I can't even write a commentary on it. I hope it touches you too...

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.