Don’t Ever Forget

The rain, it’s sound on the zendo roof

The way it plays in the forest

On leaf, through wind and bamboo

In the dark

A blanket of sound

Don’t ever forget

How it became a refuge

For you

Who were just learning to listen

To the world, outside of your thoughts

Don’t ever forget

The magic of that forest

From your first retreat

Bringing handfuls of birdseed

Left in your bed

As offering to the unseen

Spirits who

Protected you, who brought you

To this place

And were helping you let go

Don’t ever forget

The ways the forest held you

In darkness, forgetting all that you thought you were

And too, in the dappled light 

Of sun soaked august

Trees opening up

Their worlds

In the presence of your attention

Don’t ever forget

The ways you have been supported

In this effort to love and to open

The relations you have had

And the incipient ones

Just beginning

Don’t ever forget

That you are a part of the generosity of the universe

It's still unknown to you how

And may this mystery

Be the fuel for your gratitude

And your wonder

As you continue to learn

To love and to forget