Day 6

I took a long walk in the woods today.

That’s nothing new,
and yet,
it is.

It’s new every single time.

A dog can go on the same walk each day and it’s exciting each time.
Such is the gift of presence.

On each walk, I intend to rest my awareness on the present moment—the very moment only the mind can be separate from—so I can experience the forest anew,
like the other animals do.

The creatures made themselves visible to me today.

The smallest ones are the noisiest.
The squirrels. The chipmunks. The little birds.
They scuffle and scurry and chirp across the forest floor,
kicking up leaves and dirt and sticks.

They’re loud, these small ones.

Then there’s the bear I see on the embankment ahead,
it’s wide, clawed paws trodding quietly along—steadfast.

Then there’s a hawk, sitting still,
snowfall silent upon a branch above—relaxed, yet alert.

I have a forest within me.

These fleeting thoughts are squirrels and chipmunks and little birds.
Then there’s my beliefs, my values, my sense of self.
Then, there’s a hawk

watching it all from above.