Security – William Stafford

Tomorrow will have an island.

Before night I always find it.

Then on to the next island.

These places are hidden in the day separate and come forward if you beckon.

But you have to know they are there before they exist.

Sometime there will be a tomorrow without any island.

So far, I haven’t let that happen, but after I’m gone others may become faithless and careless.

Before they will tumble the wide unbroken sea, and without any hope, they will stare at the horizon.

So to you, Friend, I confide my secret: to be a discoverer you hold close whatever you find, and after a while, you decide what it is.

Then, secure in where you have been, you turn to the open sea and let go.

~ Security – William Stafford