Poetry for the Soul: Lost by David Wagoner, 1999.

In our darkest hours, when we are at our most vulnerable, we can visit the wisdom of our poets. Poetry is like food for our soul and can become a co-traveler for the road ahead. Below is Lost by David Wagoner (1999). Image from Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay.

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.