POEM: Hymns to the Forest God #16

Sometimes I want to be a tree

and just stand quietly

in the wind

sunlight or rain are both food 

for me, the air is my breath, 

my roots are happy sunk 

deep in the dirt.

 

Sometimes I want to be a bird 

and fly high from tree to tree

I want to have no thoughts beyond 

feeding, flying, preening 

want to sleep with my head 

turned away from the world 

and one foot hidden, a mystery 

like the organ in my throat 

that makes the song humans 

marvel at

 

Sometimes I want to be a fox 

and trot alongside the riverbank 

waiting for a fish, or a rabbit, 

or a fallen sandwich, or something 

to be quick and soft like a cat 

but bite with the teeth of a dog 

and show off my red fur and white 

trim with pride and laughter 

 

Come with me, says the Forest God 

you can be all of those things 

you are all of those things 

your body is an animal body

your mind is a winged creature 

your soul is as old and as rooted 

as the largest tree you know