“Lost”

Lost

by David Wagoner

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.

For to learn more about David Wagoner or find more of his writing, visit:

• Poetry Foundation
• The Poetry Archive
• Poets.org
• Wikipedia
• Amazon

In the following video David Whyte talks about Wagoner’s “Lost”. The poem was in inspired by the wisdom of Costal Salish elders teaching their young what to do when they feel lost in the forest’s of the PNW.

Peace, dwight