Trees

Posted By TheUniversalOne on April 3, 2011

Trees
By Gawaine Ross

It’s hard to remember when trees were sacred,
but the Norse knew it. For them the
primeval couple was not made of clay, as was Adam,
but came from trees: the man from the Ash,
and the woman from the Elm.
That’s why we have limbs
instead of bricks attached to our spines.
The Celts knew it too: the oak especially
for it carried the vine mistletoe,
whose white berries were the sperm of the Sky Father.

From trees I understand uprightness,
and the maple tree in my back yard
is far older than I and has gone through
storms more severe than any I could have survived.
She is tough, and tells me to endure,
to strike roots deeply in the earth,
and to welcome and follow the Sun.
I hug her and praise her for her beauty and strength,
she responds by swelling with pride.

I once saw the cells in the leaves
of a tree overhead
all conscious of each other, and working in harmony,
but what really floored me was that
the cells in the leaves of other trees
across species
were doing the same,
all communicating with each other.

An ocean of consciousness opened beyond,
but I was too afraid to step into it.

That was a lost opportunity.