-- In Losing Myself, Found --

John Herlihy

Why is it that in losing myself,

I have the feeling of being found.

Lost in the depths of dreamy melodies,

That simply lift me up from the ground.

I lose myself in the narratives of books;

They simply take me places I would never go.

All the mystery, the intrigue, the sad emotions,

So much to learn that I would not otherwise know.

I lose myself when I gaze upon a butterfly,

The beauty of the wings, the truth of feeling its lift.

It roams the garden by day, while by night the firefly,

First lost, then found as the breath of wind may drift.

I lose myself in all those daydreams,

That fill all the empty minutes of the hour.

Lost in reveries that simply burst at the seams,

In being lost, I find the means to a special power.

I sometimes find myself lost in sorrow,

A moody feeling that comes from I know not where.

Yet I know it will pass by the day after tomorrow,

Lost, but not too lost, when I find myself spared.

I lose myself in the shifting clouds of love,

Thru all the emotional surges that leave me low and high.

To soar as an eagle, but with the purity of a dove,

Lost in love, I find I know the reason why.

I sometimes lose myself in meditation and prayer,

Arousing an inner mantra focusing on the light.

Suddenly, I feel as if becoming a soothsayer,

Not lost but found in the shadow of higher insight.

We need not fear losing ourselves,

When we know that we will finally be found.

After all, losing myself has finally brought me here,

Here or there, never truly lost, always truly found.

- - - - -

(c) John Herlihy 12 January 2020