• Remove ads on the forum by becoming a donating member. More here.
  • 20% off everything Altus the next few days at the Camino Forum Store. More here. (Discount taken at check out)

Search 69,459 Camino Questions

Poem: “Finisterre”

amorfati1

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
2014_Caminho Portuguese (Lisboa to Santiago_4 weeks in May)
with best and warmest wishes to all for a Blessed New Year New Day each day, 2018 -
C.

“Finisterre”
BY DAVID WHYTE (@WHYTEDW), SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR

The road in the end taking the path the sun had taken,
into the western sea, and the moon rising behind you
as you stood where ground turned to ocean: no way
to your future now but the way your shadow could take,
walking before you across water, going where shadows go,
no way to make sense of a world that wouldn't let you pass
except to call an end to the way you had come,
to take out each frayed letter you had brought
and light their illumined corners; and to read
them as they drifted on the western light;
to empty your bags; to sort this and to leave that;
to promise what you needed to promise all along,
and to abandon the shoes that had brought you here
right at the water's edge, not because you had given up
but because now, you would find a different way to tread,
and because, through it all, part of you would still walk on,
no matter how, over the waves.


This poem is excerpted with permission from Pilgrim by David Whyte. For more poetry, visit our Poetry Radio Project.
https://onbeing.org/blog/finisterre-2/

and ... if you like to continue...
https://onbeing.org/blog/david-whyte-everything-is-waiting-for-you/
https://onbeing.org/blog/a-new-life-i-must-call-my-own/

“Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet / confinement of your aloneness / to learn / anything or anyone / that does not bring you alive / is too small for you.”
 
Last edited:
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
Do good poets make bad pilgrims? The dumping of metaphorical baggage may be covered by poetic licence, but 'to abandon the shoes that had brought you here / Right at the water's edge' is inexcusable. Please don't desecrate Finisterre when you try to walk on water!
 

Most read last week in this forum

Netflix Brazil are planning to make a film version of Paulo Coelho's book "The Pilgrimage". I've started reading the book several times and never managed more than a few pages before giving up. I...
Just finished walking the Camino Ingles/Camino Finisterre ( now languishing in the Seminario Menor in Santiago) I witnessed something a few days ago that I simply have to share. Walking with two...
As I've been reflecting on my Camino's, I've been creating a list of memorable climbs on the routes that I've walked. Some were long, steep, long and steep. Sometimes it's the conditions or the...
I can imagine that Ivar might wonder how the years have galloped by since he devised the project that 20 years ago became the Forum. It is of course a tribute to original values and ensuing...
For the foodies! https://english.elpais.com/lifestyle/2024-06-06/disfrutar-the-new-best-restaurant-in-the-world-is-in-barcelona.html?outputType=amp# And no, there’s no pilgrim discounts!
I know many like to avoid crowds, but some may like to ‘get involved’, so to advise/warn there are some big football matches being played by the Spanish National team in Euro 2024 coming up that...

❓How to ask a question

How to post a new question on the Camino Forum.

Similar threads

Forum Rules

Forum Rules

Camino Updates on YouTube

Camino Conversations

Most downloaded Resources

This site is run by Ivar at

in Santiago de Compostela.
This site participates in the Amazon Affiliate program, designed to provide a means for Ivar to earn fees by linking to Amazon
Official Camino Passport (Credential) | 2024 Camino Guides
Back
Top