Darkness swamps my vision, and I wonder, where did the light go? Yet it feels nourishing – this place of nothing. A fertile place of creation, the dark womb of mother pulls me in. In the hands of the priestess, my body slips away as the mind
melts into blackness.
I drop into the earth and soak up nutrients. Feeding on the underworld, I unite with the place before time. Eternity herself knows no bounds. I join forces with roots, bonding with filaments of life. Stretching upward, taking on new form, I witness light from the hollow of a tree. I am that. There I nod to my sisters and brothers.
They engage with one another, rooted and respectful of one another’s space. They know their place in creation. It feels immediate and necessary to return as a tree, silent and steadfast in love. This simple place in creation doesn’t bend with
compromise. It reaches for the heavens, waving with the breezes and bowing when necessary. It breaks on occasion yet that is not its end.
Far beyond the boundaries of human life, it witnesses all things. As a tree, I am home to many creatures; insects burrow into me. With limbs outstretched; I am the nesting, resting place for birds. When a hole of light opens in my bark, I become a haven for squirrels, raccoons, and an endless array of life. I welcome all who come my way for shelter.
The hush of the rainforest fills me where the emerald landscape sparkles. Golden light shimmers through my being to bathe the darkness below. Whether here or in the vast desert regions, I exude oxygen from my pores, transforming what’s needed. I feel the privilege to bathe in humanity’s exchange as partner in an on-going spiral of evolution.
I shape shift into the forms they design from me, carved into a spoon or sliced into planks. Designed to give of myself, I am grounded and abundant. Oh to be a tree, for things are made of me. Unending stories of triumph can be shared from gifts peeled from my flesh. Endless ideas turn into libraries so my influence continues or burns in a flash of light.
I know without saying what my place on earth is for, to be rooted and uplifting at once, forever loving all who walk this planet. I am humanity’s lover, a silent dancer when receiving their breath of appreciation. Returning to the hands that hold me, I
breathe new consciousness from the wisdom of the trees.
Kesha Engel
November 14, 2016
