Grandmother tree and I
began a dialogue
out of my meditation
at the river today.
I was admiring her
strong body
the width of shelter and shade
her limbs
offer,
her ability to curve and adapt
her growth
over time
from the uprooting
of her root system
by a windstorm years ago.
Slowly I began to sense
in my heart an awareness,
as if she were speaking on behalf
of the whole ancestry
of the standing mothers
“dear one,
can you appreciate
the softness of this beauty
in your aging body?
It is wisdom,
not a reflection of passivity,
this map of your years is teaching you.
Learning to surrender
to a wisdom beyond
the achievements
of your youth
is to let go of what
the world around you
assigns
to the feminine,
especially as elder.
Your exquisite soul learning
shines through
the layers,
the scars
of this life
and many ones before it.
The power of your heart
is connected
to the power of
your womb,
there are whole
universes to be found
here,
truths denied, but never lost,
rituals and ceremonies,
rites of passage
long forgotten
and yet they are returning.
Let your earth body be soft,
like your compassion
for all of life.
Rigidity of form is like trying
to manage spirit,
dear one,
it cannot be done.
You are too beautiful
to be contained,
too precious
to be denied.
Can you embody your sacred centre
as full and thick
and expansive
as you are?
Carry your deep knowing
forward
into this world now,
letting
yourself
have full permission
to take up space,
Claim what you dream
for this beautiful earth
claim it fiercely
claim it passionately
claim it as if you were giving birth to a cosmos,
for you are fertile with Imagination
when you let
the sacred river
of your passion and intuition
flow through
these veins.
If you conduct the divine Mother
up from your roots,
anchoring your whole being,
so the wild winds
of the earth’s heart
become your dear kin,
then you too will know my secret".
