Stillness within

I sit by a lake, as I’ve done before, confused,

Listening.

Her surface, like glass- I can’t quite comprehend 

Where the water ends and the shore begins.

I realize, as I’ve never realized before

How much this water has to teach.

Like the teacher of teachers, she teaches without teaching,

Without doing, without preaching. 

She touches me in that place outside time,

Outside space.

She charges nothing for her lessons, only attention,

Of which I have little. 

But the lake is generous, and she gives

Even when I can’t pay.

Her waters nourish, her hymns heal,

And I am in need of both. 

Even when the rain and wind agitate her surface,

Her depths remain tranquil, untouched. 

Though I can’t sit here forever, I carry her with me

Everywhere I go, for she is a part of me,

And I a part of her. 

No matter how far away I get, she calls me back, 

And I return.