The forest of great trees

When memories of what went wrong press
mercilessly upon my thoughts at night
or when memory suggests disasters yet to come
and I lie sleepless and tormented;
I go to the forest where the great trees grow
and feel again their bark
and smell again layers of forest scents;
I listen again to the murmuring canopy
and the gentle sounds of creatures in the bush;
again I wrap my arms around those great trunks
and listen to their long memory,
feeling how they do not fret but just be
then and now and in all tomorrows;
again I enter into their infinite calm
and all is well, again.

 

13 May 2022

Thank you to inspiring poet Wendell Berry, whose poem Wild Things has clearly been an inspiration for this outpouring.

The Ballad of Heartfelt Desire

The Ballad of Heartfelt Desire

Dedicated to Richard Miller on his 70^th birthday 13 April 2018

I sat still, a little child,

Spread myself across the air,

I knew that I was so vast,

Beyond that speck down there.

More than body, more than mind,

More than a tinge of fear,

More than girl, more than a child

Who let go a lonely tear.

Couldn’t climb or run as fast

Couldn’t throw or catch a ball

Couldn’t add or multiply

And my hair wouldn’t take a curl.

A lesser body and lesser mind

And a growing bunch of fears

That I was just not good enough

And freely ran the tears.

Scarcely knew how deep I yearned

To know myself as vast as space

And so much more than belief and fear,

To be still in a state of grace.

Deep gratitude to the teacher dear

Who unlocked my heart to its goal,

The boundaries are blurring now

To the vast non-separate soul.

Tina Shettigara© 2018