I went out into the woods in search of peace, To seek shelter from the storm and find the divine within, To lose myself in wonder and awe gazing at the beauty of the trees. Like Nature's very own skyscrapers, their grandeur points towards the heavens, They diminish one's ego making us feel small in comparison to the vast cosmos. Illusive boundaries disappear as I fade into stillness, Worries flow seamlessly like the wind, Time lies at a standstill. As I stand alone in silence, the great mystery of existence emerges, It is beyond all logic and rational thought, Inexhaustible wonder supersedes the limited finite mind. As I gasp for air, the mystery slowly subsides, Until I meet it again, My next visit to the woods.
The following poem I wrote is inspired by ideas in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and Josef Pieper’s Leisure: The Basis of Culture
Source Image: Pexels Free Photos
This article was originally posted, on my personal blog alifeofvirtue.ca
I just came inside a minute ago from having a tree-hugging photo of myself taken as I say a final farewell to a beautiful old friend, a tree that will be going to tree heaven tomorrow. Your post is the perfect eulogy. Thank you. 🥲
There are few things I find as restorative as a walk through nature. Beautiful poem Andrew. 🙏
Thanks, Andrew! Walden is on my list of top favorite books of all time. Everyone should read it if they haven’t. You’ve channeled a little Thoreau here.
My favourite line ““I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms…”
Thanks Troy:)
There are zillions of great lines in Walden. One of the funniest lines (and a line I happen to believe holds lots of truth) is: Beware of activities that require the purchase of new clothes. That’s a bit of a paraphrase, but it’s pretty close.
I always remember that line when I have to go out to buy some fancy duds for a job interview or the like. Thoreau hated pretense and fakery of all sorts. He hated playing games. He hated how “civilization” perverted our natural impulses. Thoreau was a subversive and a revolutionary in every sense of the word.
great interpretation of nature and great poems too