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[compass_lines]

I go among the trees and sit still.

All my stirring becomes quiet

around me like circles on water.

My tasks lie in their places

Where I left them, asleep like cattle.

Then what is afraid of me comes

And lives a while in my sight.

What it fears in me leaves me,

and the fear of me leaves it.

It sings, and I hear its song.

Then what I am afraid of comes.

I live for a while in its sight.

What I fear in it leaves it,

and the fear of it leaves me.
I
t sings, and I hear its song.

After days of labor,

Mute in my consternations,

I hear my song at last,

And I sing it. As we sing

The day turns, the trees move.

{I Go Among Trees and Sit Still; Wendell Berry}