I have walked this path before

You may have noticed by now that poetry is often the way I find most easily communicates what my heart has to say, expressing more succinctly than ordinary words can. And in the same way I find other poems often resonate with a particular feeling or mood and perfectly articulate what is in my heart.
Today there are two poems that have informed what I have written. The first is by Rumi,

Don't go back to sleep.

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth between the
door sill where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep.

And the second one is by David Wagoner

Lost.

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,
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. Let it find you.

And here is my contribution.

I have walked this path before

Where can my restless heart find solace?
I have walked this path before,
I know it well.
I know the answer will not come with
more restless wandering.
Stop!
Become stillness.
Let stillness rise up through your bones,
seep into your very being
until you and it are one,
and you cannot find the edge
where you finish and stillness begins.
Let stillness descend upon you
like a cloak, that wraps itself
around you so completely
that you cannot tell where its seams begin
and your own seams end.
Stand still.
And let here and now be your guide,
saying,
you are not lost
just because you cannot see the way ahead clearly,
you are not lost
just because the restless heart cannot find solace,
you are not lost.
Feel the beating of your heart,
the pumping of your blood
as it courses through your veins.
Know that standing still
is as much of a journey as
the restless wandering,
and is the only way to bring you home.
That sense of helplessness
can be quietened by standing still,
and remembering
you are not lost.
You have walked this path before,
and know it well.

© 26 July 2013