Lost

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 Robin.
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.

Native American Elder Translated by David Wagoner
(from The Gaia Foundation’s December 2012 Newsletter)