We all start out as fragile things.
Slowly our leggy roots take hold;
we turn our faces to the sun.
Under cerulean skies, we grow.
Natural hungers lead us along
the pathway towards
the person
we were always meant to be.
We taste, get burned,
learn how more carefully
to choose,
and, through our choices,
we become.
Somewhere along the way,
if we are lucky,
we encounter the wild:
plunge in, a voyage of discovery
and recovery, a mending,
a gradual growing whole.
The wildness takes us far.
And when we reach
the limits of the farthest we can go
along its path,
we emerge from it
transformed.
Traveler, experience
its mystery and magic,
but remember:
Once one has known the wild,
there is no going back.
Say goodbye to the past,
for you will never be
who once you were
again.
for Magaly's prompt at Real Toads: Fragile, Natural, Wild
This is wonderful and such good advice. Agh. Have to change my life! Though the good part is that I do get to spend a fair amount of time in nature. But you are right-- there is no truth like it-- or beauty. Thanks. K. Ps one of my favorites of yours. thanks
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I got lost so many times searching for birds (Maureen was a bird watcher) in Australia's wild places; the forests, outback bushland and even on coastal walks unable to find the right track back to the car!
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful poem and reflection. Thank you for expressing what a soul is taking in.
ReplyDeleteWhat a marvelous opening stanza, Sherry!
ReplyDeleteAnd it's true, the wildness takes us far and once we've known it there is no going back.
Natural hungers lead us along
ReplyDeletethe pathway towards
the person
we were always meant to be.
Such a truthful statement, this is. I always admire your ability to lose self in nature - it is a submission and a fruition.
I know that taste of the wild... it resonates with my veins.
ReplyDelete" Once one has known the wild,
ReplyDeletethere is no going back.
Say goodbye to the past,
for you will never be
who once you were
again."
And thank goodness for that. For, I believe that if we get the choice, most of us would continue going back and back and back... and never becoming.
You had me at the opening lines ❤️ sigh.. gorgeous write!!
ReplyDeletegorgeous, and transformational
ReplyDeleteSuch a wondrous poem this is. The wild still calls to me but I hope by now I am wiser. Although, I do remember the wind in my hair.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. I've been lucky as you say, to be led and to encounter the wild. I love how you pinpoint this blessing!
ReplyDeleteThis is lovely, Sherry for the truly wild is our core, the essence of who we are. Bereft of the many coats we wear
ReplyDeleteYes, "the wildness takes us far" Growing up the way I did I always thought of myself as feral.
ReplyDelete