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 black dog

The black dog

When the black dog licks your heart,

Do you believe that it’s a wolf and try to run away?

Don’t you know that’s when it bites?

Don’t you know that’s when it brings you down?

Do you believe in every thought you ever had?

You could keep on chasing thoughts until your days are done.

But when the black dog licks your heart

What if you welcomed it instead?

What if you welcomed it instead?

I thought I knew I couldn’t cope.

I thought the weight would crush my chest.

I thought I had to slam that gate,

I thought to place that dog in chains.

Now when that feeling licks my heart,

It's raw, it's tender, a kiss of love,

I sense the wound that it’s nursing there,

I sense the scar dissolving now.

I sense the scar dissolving now.

© Tina Shettigara

10 July 2020