I Learned That Her Name Was Proverb: a poem by Denise Levertov

And the secret names

of all we meet who led us deeper

into our labyrinth

of valleys and mountains, twisting valleys

and steeper mountains-

their hidden names are always,

like Proverb, promises:

Rune, Omen, Fable, Parable,

those we meet for only

one crucial moment, gaze to gaze,

or for years Know and don’t recognize

 

but of whom later a word

sings back to us

as if from high among leaves,

still near beyond sight

 

drawing us from tree to tree

towards the time and the unknown place

where we shall know

what it is to arrive.