Preservation of the soul

Here is Jeffrey Mishlove’s interview with David Whyte
on the preservation of the soul, waking up, and saving our lives.

LOST
Stand still. The trees ahead and bushed 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 truly lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.
—Native American elder
(Poem rendered into modern English by David Wagoner)