TODAY I HUGGED A TREE
Today I hugged a tree
And to my surprise and glee
The tree reached out
with leaf and branch
and in return hugged me
For a moment speeding time
To be parallel with mine
And gave me greeting
Although fleeting
Endlessly sublime
A moment but so very long
I heard him sing his song
Knowing not of guilt or shame
or cause or blame
or best or right or wrong
I felt his awesome breath
a thousand days at rest
between the lifting and the fall
of what I’d call
his beating chest
So many days and nights
of sun in sky and starry lights
while ants and insects buzzed about
and flowers sprung and sprout
and birds took flight
I knew the squirrels joy
and dreams of sleeping girls and boys
and dogs who peed
and fallen seeds
and gardeners at ploy
Of twiggy birdnests made
Of grateful folk in shade
Of roots deep down
Holding ground
In winds that shook the glade
Of centuries gone by
Between the blink of his old eyes
Of time known slow
As our time goes
And then he said Goodbye.
