Rebecca's Reading RoomWalking in Nature with Myra Viola Wilds
“Catch your thoughts and hold them tightly…”
A poem has a way of returning to us. Not always when we expect it, and never in quite the same way. Several years ago, I created a video around this poem by Myra Viola Wilds. Recently, I found myself revisiting it. The words had not changed, but my understanding of them had deepened. I remember walking along a forest path on Burnaby Mountain when these lines first settled into my thoughts. Walking has always been a form of meditation for me—a way of giving space to thinking that is often crowded out by the day.
Reciting Poetry on Burnaby Mountain (Rebecca Budd Photo Archives May 30, 2022)But what I have come to understand more clearly over time is this: We are not simply observers of our thoughts. We are participants in them. To think with care, to choose thoughts that are generous, steady, and hopeful, is a creative act. It is something we build, moment by moment. And in doing so, we shape a life that opens toward possibility. This poem speaks directly to that quiet responsibility.
Thoughts
by Myra Viola Wilds
What kind of thoughts now, do you carry
In your travels day by day
Are they bright and lofty visions,
Or neglected, gone astray?
Matters not how great in fancy,
Or what deeds of skill you’ve wrought;
Man, though high may be his station,
Is no better than his thoughts.
Catch your thoughts and hold them tightly,
Let each one an honour be;
Purge them, scourge them, burnish brightly,
Then in love set each one free.
Myra Viola Wilds (1875–1935) was born in Kentucky and was an American poet whose work often appeared in newspapers and small publications of her time. She wrote in a style that was clear, direct, and meant to be carried into daily life rather than set apart from it. Her poetry reflects a tradition that was once very common. Verses written not only for literary circles, but for ordinary readers seeking guidance, encouragement, and reflection.
“Thoughts” belongs to this tradition. It is less a poem to be studied than a poem to be lived with. In an era shaped by rapid change and modern pressures, writers like Wilds offered something steady: a reminder that character, outlook, and inner life remain within our influence.
Wilds authored the collection Thoughts of Idle Hours (1915), published by the National Baptist Publishing Board. What makes this work especially remarkable is that she wrote it after losing her eyesight, the result of years of overwork as a dressmaker.
Her words suggest that she was not merely observing human nature, but encouraging a kind of quiet responsibility. It was an invitation to tend one’s thoughts with care.
When I read this now, I find myself pausing on a single idea: We choose our thoughts. And in choosing them, we create the conditions of our lives.
Rebecca
https://youtu.be/IknhlH08FWo?si=cR-6NwuAze3hqkWY
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