I felt in need of a long journey, so I sat still for three days. – Hafiz
 
I felt in need of a long journey
so I watched the snake break from its diamond -
colored egg and slither through several new skins. 
I felt in need to learn a new language
so I imagined myself
into the eyes of a grasshopper
and felt it go still with listening.
I felt in need to talk with my mother
so I watched a tea-rose open, leaving
its orange hips to be gathered by birds.
I felt a need for my father
so I watched cypress spread foliage, and slowed my arms
to the strength of their branches.
I wanted to know what eternity looked like,
so I studied the salmon
who look the same now as they did at the beginning
of history. I felt in need to live forever, so I sat
with my back to the sun, until 
the gravel under my body faltered
and fell apart.
I felt in need to be nobody,
so I found the nobody inside.
That’s who I am now, as I write this, remembering
nothing as I walk the forest, through infinities
of mushrooms and moss, following
the smell of bear and the birds
whose unbroken blue lineage remains
unbroken and nameless,
containing all futures
invisible in the trees.