A Poem: Seeing

It’s not what you look at
but what you see.
Not what you look for
but what is there
ready to be revealed.

Too often our thoughts are
like the cloud covered hills.
And we will avoid the sun
in our face
to keep our stories intact.

But the sun keeps nudging us,
with beauty it’s calling card.
And if we can bear the softening
she will change our gaze
to see what’s true.

So often sight
has more to do with the heart
than the eyes.
Protected as it is by shields and
battlements.

While keeping a light on
in the heart means everything
we see is true.
When the sun is shone upon
our shadows

they lose their power to hurt
and haunt,
dissolving as mist at noon.

Ana Lisa de Jong
Living Tree Poetry
April 2022