"Stand Still" -- a Reminder from David Wagoner's Poem, "Lost"

What is it that feeds you? That deepens you more fully into being whole?

For me, it is being outside in the woods or along waterways. But sometimes, I get caught up in doing, in chores, and forget how essential simply being in the natural world is for me.

Especially with the holidays approaching, it's all too easy for me to feel like

I-don't-have-the-time to go for a walk.

I could not be more wrong.

Which is why I recently have begun my morning yoga/meditation practice by reciting David Wagoner's poem, "Lost."

Yesterday, I heeded the poem's call and walked in the woods. Which is where I bore witness to the beauty you see in this post.

I do not want to feel lost. I want to be Here.

Lost

by David Wagoner

Stand still. The trees ahead and the 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 bush does is lost on you,

You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows

Where you are. You must let it find you.

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