Wednesday, October 13, 2010

I love the trees on the hill above the lake
near my home.
Huge macrocarpa, pines and oaks
stand like sentinels.

I love their stillness and strength and beauty.

As a child I thought trees lived forever.
I loved climbing trees and still would if I could.




Today as I walked it began to rain softly
and I took shelter under a big macrocarpa.
I leaned against the tree, waiting for the rain to stop.
I looked up at the strong branches
and felt safe
sheltering there,
alone, just me and the tree..


then I began to see I wasn't alone.
I began to examine the bark and discovered a whole community
lived there on this tree.

There were birds up above coming and going.
There were spiders and their webs tucked in the bark.
There were ants and the empty skins of last summer's cicadas
and lichens and mosses and small plants growing.



The rain stopped
and I thanked the tree for
for sheltering me
for purifying the air
for giving us fresh oxygen to breathe
for sheltering the birds
and insects and spiders
for always being there

and I went off home feeling humble and richer
for becoming aware of
Mother Tree..


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11 comments:

  1. You have some fabulous ancient trees! I enjoy a certain spiritual connection with them. Love this post.

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  2. Wonderful pictures and reflections -- and the poem is perfect.

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  3. What lovely trees. So majestic. And a beautiful poem.

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  4. Such a lovely poem above, Joan, and you homage to the trees here and the creatures that inhabit them; the spiders and cicadas, the moss and lichen and such. I love how you have captured the bark with the twists and turns and texture. Humbler and richer - so well put after seeking refuge under a tree in the rain.

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  5. Thank you Willow, Vicki, Thyra and Penny, for the lovely responss.

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  6. Joan, this is so beautiful. Trees make the finest companions and have so much to teach us. That is one beyond-lovely tree. And your words and images pay homage to it perfectly.

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  7. Such magic and majesty. Thank you for the reminder.

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  8. Great tree photographs! I love taking photos of roots and bark, too. Happy to find you. Thanks for stopping by my blog. It's so fun being connected to artists all over the world and sharing beautiful things. Cheers!

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  9. What a beautiful story about you and mother tree. I love the photos of all the trunks. They do look like sentinels, and they also look as if they could start walking at any time!

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  10. Funny you should say that Juliet. I always think that.. reminds me of Tolkien's walking trees.

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