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“Lost”

by David Whyte

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 it 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.

Just for this moment,
stop trying.
Stop trying to be better,
to get somewhere else,
to change anything about anything at all.
Set down your weapons and your tools
and your books about How To Be,
and,
just for this moment,
stop trying.

Come lay your head down upon my soft lap
and allow that sacred space within your chest
(the one you guard with fangs and crooked daggers)
to open like a flowerhead.

Welcome home, Boundless.

Relax.
I will stroke your hair
and coax that hidden eye in your forehead
(the one you protect with dead thoughts and habit)
to open.

Relax.
Do you see now that you have been knocking
this whole time upon your own front door,
begging to be let in?

Relax.
Sunflowers and octopus trees are growing from the rusty war planes,
and the vultures have all turned herbivorous.
The sky is filling with silent white birds,
white birds with your heart flower in their chests.
A passing tortoise looks at us and sighs,
relieved that we’re finally starting to get it,
and the sound is echoed by the earth and the sky.

You can smell the soil in your nose and feel it in your bones.
Everything crackles with color and presence.
The eel angels are singing,
and your heart is singing with them,
and you are now as you always were:

Boundless.

-Caitlin Johnstone

Haiku in 4 Seasons is a multi-media celebration of moments that are fleeting yet poignant.  The moments poetically expressed in these haiku poems are  trying to tell us something, our subconscious is sending us an important message about ourselves and life in general.   We should listen carefully and learn.   Each haiku poem takes place in a different season, starting with spring.  Video (edited by Steve Wilson), music (composed by James Wilson), and haiku poetry by James Wright and Layman P’ang.

Sunset Requiem is a tranquil classically oriented music composition accompanied by a video of spectacular sunsets.  Sit back, put on your headphones, watch,  and relax!

From the Center for Action and Contemplation