There's a thread you follow

The tag line for my blog comes from a William Stafford poem which has been a guiding image for me for many years. It was written 26 days before he died at the age of 79. The older I get, the truer it rings to me. If I could only have one poem for the rest of my life, this might be it.

The Way It Is
by William Stafford

There’s a thread you follow.  It goes among
things that change.  But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.