Mother Oak
~Scribe~

There is no silence in the city: nowhere to be with nature without the roar of traffic, which surrounded me on both sides, as I walked in this well manicured city park. I breathed in the crisp fall air, only to find it filled with an acrid chemical odor, and felt a heavy longing for my beloved. sweet smelling north woods, and their untouched sanctity....

I walked on a ways, loving the way the leaves welcomed my feet, and the comfort of the trees, then paused to rest under the low hanging branches of an old Mother Oak.

One big leaf caught my eye, still clinging by it's loosening stem, shuddering slightly with each breeze-breath, ...getting ready..getting ready,... and then suddenly, I was no long aware of my body, I was that leaf, and it was me.

I could feel my stem-place..my connection with Mother Oak, so long so safe, so nurturing .. growing more tenuous with each puff of wind. I tried to cling .. even as I wanted to fly, and then..Mother told me it was time...

With a last kiss, she let me go... placing me gently in the hands of my own sweet freedom breeze...that gently swung me from side to side..oh sweetest dance of all...lower and lower..side to side..

.. I saw beneath me the welcoming arms of all the others.. waiting...to welcome me back to beloved earth.I came to rest in their arms at the foot of Mother Oak, nestled with my brothers and sisters, our edges curled in and up in silent honor of life given and lived, the wonders of all transitions..of the sacred cycles of birth and death and regeneration...

From here I saw the full size and shape of sacred Mother Oak,.stretching above me as far as I could see..her beloved arms reaching up and out in sheer celebratiom of the victory of another sacred cycle completed...her own bare arms now free to soak in the sunlight for herself.... renewing and restoring, preparing her for resting time..and her robe of royal white to come..

..I held up my own welcoming arms to the others now, as they were gently lowered, each pressing me closer to the earth..to the indescribable sweetness of her..to her hearts welcome,to her warmth and wisdom that gathered me in..and I knew..I knew...the rightness of it all in every atom of my being.I knew the endless depths of quiet joy...and a peace .that passes all understanding...

[Thank you Scribe, for your permission to cross post this on Matters of Spirit. It is also posted at Village Blue.]