From a collection of six poems I wrote during my travels with the Broken Forest artists' group this summer in Ontario, Canada (see "kalender" on this Blog).
Visit
You may enter here
on tiptoe
Please, leave your luggage and your
Litter, carry only what is you
Put your bare feet down
tender and firm
Like a lover caress the ground
Touch, walk!
You will step on my ancestors
that hold my roots tangled in
memories
I move slow
Twigs and leaves speak through me so
you understand
This is your first lesson with me
Listen!
You may now touch my bark
Rub your back against it like
a bear not too hungry not too weary
Yearning
for this experience - Breathe
in - Breathe out
Take your time before
you leave my realm
A memory of you may stay
with me for a while
A slice of eternity with an imprint of
your voice
your mind
your soul
Miigwetch! Thank you!
The Plunge
A river runs
a canopy rustles
a skunk appears
a raccoon clings to the branch of a cedar
a spider weaves
a cocoon opens
a beetle sways on a birch leaf in the morning mist
and falls onto old trees' mulch
You take the plunge
run
rustle
appear
cling
weave
open
sway
f
a
l
l
Step onto a new path
into a new age
Keep moving at steady speed
keep moving.
In the Forest
Breathe with me
Call me a tree
Where spirits are summoned
In the forest
Balsam or pine
Maple, ash, birch, too, is fine
As long as your look is clear
In the forest
Let us commune and let us commute
I am canopy and I am root
Whisper and chant is my home
In the forest
Feel my colours glow
wandering in the flow
of time-woven beads
In the forest.
Images from the Old Growth Forest in Temegami, Ontario, August 2022
