SOMETIMES

Sometimes
if you move carefully
through the forest

breathing
like the ones
in the old stories

who could cross
a shimmering bed of dry leaves
without a sound,

you come
to a place
whose only task

is to trouble you
with tiny
but frightening requests

conceived out of nowhere
but in this place
beginning to lead everywhere.

Requests to stop what
you are doing right now,
and

to stop what you
are becoming
while you do it,

questions
that can make
or unmake
a life,

questions
that have patiently
waited for you,

questions
that have no right
to go away.

~ David Whyte ~

This is a profound and thought-invoking poem by Poet David Whyte that I love. David grew up with a strong, imaginative influence from his Irish mother. His work is known to foster a deeper relationship with the nature of the individual, while thoughtfully cultivating courage and engagement to support creativity and synergistic change.

While I love his poem, I also love this piece he wrote that expounded on the “questions that have no right to go away”, sharing 10 questions that he confronted within himself that I feel are really powerful ones for all of us to ask ourselves.

You can explore the questions and engage yourself in answering them, as you read David’s insights and the full article here:

10 Questions That Have No Right To Go Away