So sorry for the delay it's been such a crazy day and I went to post last night but Locals was down. I'm using @smaoife's prompt since she already did it. :)
Write about a poem you’ve always remembered.
Start Close In — A poem by David Whyte
Anything David Whyte writes is memorable. It’s his reading of the poems that really sticks with me. My yoga instructor always used read some of his work as we started or finished class and he did a good job of mimicking his style.
I love the first line which also happens to be the last line.
Start close in,
don’t take the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take.
This poem came to me as I was getting sober and beginning, of all things, the 12-steps. And the step I didn’t want to take was that first step. Admitting I had a problem.
Start with
the ground
you know,
the pale ground
beneath your feet,
your own
way of starting
the conversation.
In AA they always say Step 1 is also the only step you have to do perfectly. Don’t drink or use no matter what. But over the years this poem has unfolded in my heart. Starting with my own questions were the words of empowerment I didn’t know I needed.
Start with your own
question,
give up on other
people’s questions,
don’t let them
smother something
simple.
Asking the right questions and then, listening to my inner voice.
To find
another’s voice,
follow
your own voice,
wait until
that voice
becomes a
private ear
listening
to another.
Be humble and focused.
Start right now
take a small step
you can call your own
don’t follow
someone else’s
heroics, be humble
and focused,
start close in,
don’t mistake
that other
for your own.
Start close in. Next right action. What can you do, that is right in front of you? Since hearing this poem I’m always asking myself—what is the step I don’t want to take?
Start close in,
don’t take
the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take.
