#lostness

god, i'm tired

aster, unbent, passed

between homeland and abyss through

your memory.

A strange lostness was

palpably present, you could

almost have

lived.”

— Paul Celan

(tr. Pierre Joris)

🔲

“STUMME HERBSTGERÜCHE. Die

Sternblume, ungeknickt, ging

zwischen Heimat und Abgrund durch

dein Gedächtnis.

Eine fremde Verlorenheit war

gestalthaft zugegen, du hättest

beinah

gelebt.”

STAND STILL

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.

–David Wagoner, from Collected Poems 1956-1976

TAKE IT FURTHER

Read the poem, aloud if possible.

Think about this question: Are the images or metaphors relevant to your daily life?

Invite the Holy Spirit into your heart.

Sit with the poem for 10 or 15 minutes.