Camino Poems (Unedited)

Camino I

I carried too many things.

Like most people, probably.

Baggage no longer needed.

Not needed in the first place.

Simple is a process

Of letting go, unpacking.

One too many screens,

Pieces of clothing to wear,

Weight of what can’t quite be surrendered.

I feel it, finally,

Ounces of extra

The pains – foot cramps, shoulder knots –

Signposts of my own unconscious consumption.

Camino II

Close your eyes.

Walk.

It may take a few steps,

Or many

To feel the weight of all that you’re carrying.

Keep walking.

You will feel pain where you always do –

That left hip, right knee, small of your back, old should injury,

Heart.

The bottoms of your feet, certainly, from

Bringing you so far –

This whole life you’ve lived.

All the mountains, the rivers you’ve had to ford.

Keep walking.

Soon enough those pains

Will ease.

A few more steps,

Maybe many.

And then, briefly,

Only for a moment,

You will grow wings.

Keep walking.

You’ll forget your own story

In the rhythm of presence.

Step. Step. Step.

Inhale the forest,

Dew-encrusted moss,

Musky ferns,

Eucalyptus,

Here and there the sharp, fresh, scent of pines.

Songbirds chirping, hidden frogs

Croaking at dawn.

Here,

there is magic.

Keep walking.

None of it will last.