Thursday, June 9, 2011

Poetry Month #7: Lost by David Wagoner

This is a powerful poem and a great reading about being lost .  It sounds like David Whyte but the video doesn't identify him.  It's worth a short break with a cup of tea.




Lost by David Wagoner
published by the University of Illinois Press in 1999

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.

2 comments:

  1. I got lost in wonder this morning, right here. The piano is seductive... as is the whole piece.

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love this poem; immediately sent it off to a friend who is leaving for a sabbatical in the mountains... Thanks so much!

    ReplyDelete