So far I’ve avoided having two poems by one poet, tempted as I have been. But now I’m not only going to have two poems by one poet I’m going to have it on the next day. My friend Linda, who lives in California, sent me this poem in response to me sending her “The Peace of Wild Things.” This poem speaks to me directly: I’m always busy and always know what to do. It’s time I didn’t. It’s time for my real work to begin.

Our Real Work

It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.