I am going to tell you something awe full. If you turn to wild nature in the winter, Not merely for exercise but for guidance You might find that hidden in the duff Are beings that are doing what you are doing: Taking a long sigh, stretching, then napping As the sometimes-harsh brilliance of the sun Soothes and warms rather than burning.
I do not know what to say any more About the human world of “civilization,” For it seems it holds more flaws and horrors Compared to the frolic and humor we once knew When we were children. We can’t dismiss it But we can open ourselves within and beyond it To embrace all that human brains cannot control.
I do not have any answers to console you through The longest, darkest nights, but can only point Like some Nova Scotia Duck Trolling Retriever Toward what remains hidden in the cattail patch Or in the cave in the riverbank where no one else Has gotten down on their knees to peek for years.
Be alert to the clandestine treasures. Delight in any silly, surreptitious adventures That can sweep us away from the staid and solemn. Grow more attentive to the tiny wonders Beneath our feet, beyond our grasp or Above our heads that might humble us At the same time that they fill us with awe.
