07/08/21

All trees must die.

Some turn into ashes in a blaze.
Some cave into their rotten inside.
Some are pulled out from their roots.

The first day is horrendous.

Birds chirp nervously and fly to and fro.
Squirrels screech indignantly and hop into the emptiness.
Children look up anxiously running up and down.

Where did it go?

I’d rather your stomp remained.
I’d rather your roots remained,
I’d rather your bark remained.

Keeping me anchored on this earth.

Lonely sentinel, tell me…

Where are your forefathers?
Where are your mothers?
Where are your brothers?

You are surrounded by

Bricks
Concrete
Tired tired old houses.

But where are your people ?

I know a pine tree just like you,
across that field.

I know an oak tree just like you
on the other end of that road.

I know a beech just like you
behind that house.

They remember too…

When my own people were not here.

And you swayed,
And you stood,
And you rose,

in the thick mist.
over the marshes.
into everlasting woods.

For centuries,
For millenniums,
For light years.

Or not…

Fire, your enemy, always existed.
Wind, your enemy, always existed.
Hale, your enemy, always existed.

My forehead against your bark.
My lips against your leaves.
My fingers entwined in your shoots.

Tell me, tell me…

Of the great abyss of your history.
Of the great bitterness of your history.
Of the great melody of your history.

Yes, that song…

I hear, when the winds blows,
I learn, when the breeze rises.
I join, when the night falls.

And time doesn’t mean anything anymore.

I stand with you,
against the storm.

I brace with you,
against the cold.

I rise with you,
against all odds.

And we long for dawn.
And we long for spring.
And we long for forests.

Together,
We’ll last longer.

Together,
We’ll rise higher.

Together,
We’ll grow deeper.

A happy homely forest.

To keep your scars safe.
To keep my anguish safe.
To keep our hope safe.

My might oak,
My tender aspen,
My gentle maple.

I know how lonely you are.
I know how scared you are.
I know how brave you are.

As you waver.
As you shiver.
As you shudder.

Losing limbs,
Losing leaves,
Losing space.

and yet you endure….

Like a prayer,
Like a dream,
Like a hope…

Resilient.

An acorn tumbling on the ground.
A stem rising from the ground.
A trunk reaching for the sky.

How utterly beautiful.
How deeply moving.
How softly yearning.

For that hope rooted in you.
For that gentleness weaved in you.
For that richness drooping from you.

My shelter,
My strengthener
My reviver. 

Ever growing.

Under His Grace,
Under His Bounty,
Under His Care.