an Arrival

a forgotten Departure
from simplicity..
discoveries of living
accomplishment and shade..
then suddenly
after so many years
a remembering but
only a glimpse
of that Departure
covered in mist..
finding simplicity now
containing
our voyage treasures..
an Arrival of knowing...
---Charles Coon

"And the end of our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."
--TS Eliot

T. S. EliotLittle Gidding V

We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. Through the unknown, remembered gate When the last of earth left to discover Is that which was the beginning; At the source of the longest river The voice of the hidden waterfall And the children in the apple-tree Not known, because not looked for But heard, half heard, in the stillness Between the two waves of the sea. Quick now, here, now, always-- A condition of complete simplicity (Costing not less than everything) And all shall be well and All manner of things shall be well When the tongues of flame are in-folded Into the crowned knot of fire And the fire and the rose are one.