When Lost in a Dark Wood, Do What People in a Dark Wood Might

Some traditions had hunting
In the desert light at dawn,

Others—friendship, wine, farewells.
Others—romantic appeals,

Others—mostly prayers and hymns,
Others chose to praise great men—

All the distinct traditions
For what should be poetry,

What should be made and retained—
Phrases beautiful themselves

Reverberating with joy,
Ugly themselves but moonlit,

Depicting heartbreaking blue
Landscapes of twilights, the small,

Troubled face of a child, lost
And aware of being lost.