My Ode to Nature:
Oh mighty tree must you stand so tall?
Do you know how long I have yearned to be near you?
To feel the touch of your skin against the weight of my heavy heart
Since the beginning of time
I have grown accustomed to your beautiful boughs and gentle swaying leaves
I have sat amongst the clustering of your youth
You have protected me against tyranny, hatefulness and shame. Coveted my innocence
shielding me against the preposterousness of war
Like the soldier standing erect in a gaze which holds no promise of immortality,
you wilt in the sun against her gaze knowing the heat of the day will bring slumber when
night falls and when the moon trapezes across the tapestry of your skin you shine
For you have the sustenance of Mother Nature as a protectorate and the soldier has a loaded gun
Your perching branches hover and protect the flurried winged ones and the dusty trailing nut seekers
Whilst the soldier's veins bleed an unrelenting sorrow for the innocence of life once
taken
Only once
Your vivid beauty, your presence for which words can hardly describe makes pastures of nothingness gape in awe
And for those who come to stand under you or lie quietly at your roots beneath the skies you welcome with unabandoned love sovereignty and truth
But forgiveness is the hollow in your chest
A place of your sacred heart for those whose mankind abandoned, misused, and condemned
Your heart lies heavy but does not lie still nor does it whimper
It listens to the winds of time stir the remembrance of chaos and calamity
It beckons us all to see the gnarly craggy faces and spines of human flesh that hung to rot never knowing the peace you gave from within
Mighty tree, I see you as my savior. My saint. My holy one.
For I am blessed to hold your earthen woven rounds of time
And I will speak softly to the angels when they come
May I always remember you, Oh Mighty Tree,
for your presence, beauty and your sound
Let freedom ring!
~Nancy Chuda
Oak Pasture Santa Ynez
August 12, 2010
Nancy Chuda is the co-founder of LuxEcoLiving.com and Healthy Child Healthy World.