The Way of The Way is Revealed
I didn’t know my way,
When I set out this morning,
Turned out there was no need,
Because I was led.
***
As I chose my own way,
The buzzard, she chose me,
Flew over my path,
And drew me to her.
***
‘This entrance’, she said,
This part of the forest,
Just follow my lead,
I won’t steer you wrong.
***
So I let the dogs loose,
And I hardly see them,
They exit so quickly,
Merge into the bush.
***
My eyes follow
Her recent path,
My footfalls fall with me.
I can only trudge, as she has floated.
***
I don’t have to wait long,
She lingers for me,
Perched on a birch,
As bare as is stark,
***
So I can’t mistake her
For a flurry of leaves,
Or a tangle of branches.
She is clear.
***
I fancy she turns
Her head to look at me,
Beckoning …
***
But before I go to her,
A pair of crows,
Announce their pairing,
With a rough caw-cawing.
***
They swoop an attack
Driving this temptress
From their treetop home.
***
One pursues her,
The courage of a wild thing,
Across the wayward scrub.
***
The trees look on,
I look on,
Stunned by display,
Of aerial manoeuvre,
And heart stopping bravery.
***
She is chased from this place,
And I give chase too,
Though no longer seeing,
I feel her,
I hope her.
***
But she has completed
Her morning’s task,
To draw me deeper,
Into the woods.
***
And so she has vanished,
Just like a ghost,
And I am left wondering,
In my wandering.
***
Did I imagine
The entire thing?
Or have I been called
By my power animal?
***
With lessons of beauty,
Truth, Independence,
A fierce wildness,
That leads as it sustains.
