My friend Patricia (soon to be a Saltspring Islander) came with me on a walk down to cape Roger Curtis the other day and she recited this poem on the way:

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;
ask permission to know it and be known.

Listen.

The forest breathes.

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 branch does is lost on you,
then you are surely lost.

Stand still.

The forest knows where you are

You must let it find you.

-- David Wagoner