“The ultimate touchstone of friendship is not improvement, neither of the other nor of the self, the ultimate touchstone is witness, the privilege of having been seen by someone and the equal privilege of being granted the sight of the essence of another, to have walked with them and to have believed in them, and sometimes just to have accompanied them for however brief a span, on a journey impossible to accomplish alone.”

- David Whyte
from Readers' Circle Essay, "Friendship"

I came across this poem the other day while listening to Poetry From the On Being Gathering (Opening Night). Check it out if you’ve got the time. The 30 minutes it takes is more than worth the time spent.

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff : Poetry : On Being : David Whyte