By Lois Klein
Write about curiosity
about how not-knowing
motivates the mind.
Overlook advice that
urges you to have
all the answers.
Find a way to keep
living the questions—
Rilke said that.
Reach for some star
that manages to shine
through the darkness.
Curl into the circle
of friends.
Do it often.
Ignore the spun-out
parts of you.
Sit in the sun.
Don’t overlook
the listener who has time
to linger on the bank of
time’s fast-moving river.
Learn to swim.
It’s ok if you don’t
do it well. Just enough
to get you to safety.
Remember safety.
Hear it whisper
your name.
Lois Klein is the author of three poetry books: Naming Water (1998), A Soldier’s Daughter (2008), and Blooming Wild So Close to Home (2013). She organizes the monthly Favorite Poems Project, teaches through the California-Poets-in-the-Schools Program, and leads private writing groups. Also by this poet: "A Single Chair"