Living Tree Poetry

When we have learned to fall like the leaves,

when we have learned to move like grass
to the flow of wind,

when we have learned to mount
the precipice,

as a deer on a ridge –

or as a dancer might pirouette
on the head of a pin –

when we have learned
to blossom

at the touch of sun,
moisten in a passing gust,
dissolve in the mist,

when we have learned
all these things,

we might have the courage to walk
on two feet,

out-of-doors,
bridging all the ‘what if’s’ –

one foot here,
and the other already

in eternity.

Ana Lisa de Jong
Living Tree Poetry
April 2020

After writing my poem I came across Rainer Maria Rilke’s famous poem, ‘Go to the Limits of your Longing’ and Alana Levandoski’s song reflecting on his words. 

Go to the Limits of your Longing
Rainer Maria Rilke

God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.

These are the words we dimly hear:

You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.

Flare up like a flame
and make big shadows I can move in.

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.

Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness. Give me your hand.

See the link to Alana’s Levandoski’s song ‘Go to the Limits of your Longing’ below:

https://www.facebook.com/alanalevandoski/videos/209267103273092/?v=209267103273092