There are too many trees
in this forest for a trail
to easily follow home,
too many slavering wolves
to pay attention to the way.
Often, I tell stories without
telling stories as I teach.
Who has the time for hidden
messages? The metaphor’s too often
lost in the ubiquitous as it is .
Like now, one should mark this
turn on the path so we might
return again later as different
people who are no longer lost.
Of course, that would require
attention to where we are
now— accepting what’s here
as the only place to know,
and the only way we can be.
There is no one hiding
behind the trees, no fairies
dancing circles in the dark.
There are only our words
right here where we are.
(August 7, 2018)
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