Walk

  pilgrim approaching Castrojeriz

"Walk
Pilgrim of the world
 

Walk
Thy steps thy words
The road, thy song
the fatigue, thy prayer
And thy silence, finally thy speech.

Walk
thou art born for the way
That of pilgrimage
That other way leading to thyself
and thy quest
 

Walk
Already, God walks with thee."

~quoted by 'dutchpilgrim' on the Santiago Forum'

an extract of parts from a longer poem  he was given at Navarrenx in France

The Road

on the Meseta

early one morning

The Road

Here is the road: the light

comes and goes then returns again.

Be gentle with your fellow travelers

as they move through the world of stone and stars

whirling with you yet every one alone.

The road waits.

Do not ask questions but when it invites you

to dance at daybreak, say yes.

Each step is the journey; a single note the song.

~ Arlene Gay Levine ~

found in a post on the Camino Forum

by Nandy 61

A doorway into thanks

"this isn't a contest but the doorway into thanks,

and a silence in which another voice may speak."

from "Praying" - a poem by Mary Oliver

Maybe if anything 'sums up' the Camino for me
this phrase from Mary Oliver
~about thanks and silence~
does...

To Pay Attention

"To pay attention,

this is our endless and proper work."

~Mary Oliver

Mary Oliver quote

Daisy in my back garden

"And did you feel it, in your heart,
how it pertained to everything?
And have you too finally figured out
what beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?"

~Mary Oliver from ‘the swan’
Quote found on The Alchemy of Pilgrimage blog