– Nashville Counseling Services: A Poem of Presence and Rest

Last Updated on June 14, 2023 by Chris Roberts

References “Poetry of Presence.  An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems. 2017. Phyllis Cole-Dai and Ruby R. Wilson”

 

This is a poem that has recently stuck out to me, and I keep coming back to swim in its waters.

 

Lie Down

By: Nancy Paddock

 

Lie down with your belly to the ground,

Like an old dog in the sun.  Smell

The greenness of cloverleaf feel the damp

Earth through your clothes, let an ant

wander the uncharted territory

of your skin. Lie down

with your belly to the ground.  Melt into

the earth’s contours like a harmless snake.

All else is mere bravado.

Let your fists open into useless tendrils.

Let your mind resolve itself

in a tangle of grass.

Lie down with your belly

to the ground, flat out, on ground level

Prostrate yourself before the soil

you will someday enter.

Stop doing.

Stop judging, fearing, trying.

This is not dying, but the way to live

in a world of change and gravity.

Let go.  Let your burdens drop.

Let your grief-charge bleed off

into the ground.

Lie down with your belly to the ground

and then rise up

with the earth still in you.  (p.36)

 

 

Chris Roberts is a licensed professional counselor at Two Trees counseling in Nashville, TN.  He has over 14 years working with clients of all ages, genders, races, and relational styles.  If you have questions about relational counseling or counseling in general, we would love to be of assistance.