Poem of the Month: January 2007

It is winter, and you have come
alone to a clearing in the wood.
Close your eyes and imagine you are
Merlin, shape-changer and androgyny,
come to the forest Broceliande.
So transformed in your inward being,
slowly open your eyes and look at
the clearing, circle of trees,
snow and shadows, and then
let all dissolve into turbulence
of color and form, intense
longing, and owl’s cry.

If you follow these instructions,
and if your heart is pure,
you will experience three revelations.
First is the knowledge
that it has taken a lifetime
to arrive at this place;
second is the conviction
that you are most alive
in the act of discovery;
and third is the fact
that observation changes
the thing observed.

Look! It is winter, and you have come
alone to this clearing in the wood,
a familiar place you have never
seen before. Do not hurry to leave,
but when at last you turn away,
remember this, if you remember nothing else:
You are no longer who you were.
 
- Robert Collen in Burning World (Atholz, MA: Havleys, 1997)

With appreciation to my friend and poetry therapy colleague Dr. Sherry Reiter for sharing this poem with me.

Journal prompts:

• Follow the instructions in the first stanza. As you imagine yourself in a cold, clear forest on a winter's day, what do you experience? Write from the perspective of Merlin, the magician, the shape-shifter.
• Which of the three revelations in the second stanza can you most appreciate? Write your understanding of any, or all, of the revelations.
• "Remember this.... : You are no longer who you were." Who were you in 2006? Who are you becoming in 2007? Write your vision for yourself in the new year.