Trust the Seed

 

-------Trust the Seed-------

 

Vulnerability 

can sometimes feel 

like danger

 

So when it does 

I forgive to nature

 

And am

reminded 

by the leaves unfolding

 

To trust the seed 

that I am holding.

 

-------

Underneath

 

-------Underneath-------

 

Thistle digs

into bare,

compacted soil

 

As the people

take to the streets

 

Bringing light

upon 

the surface

 

To the problems

underneath.

 

-------

Nettle

 

-------Nettle-------

 

The sensation 

of nettles 

upon skin

 

Is not unlike 

the giving over

 

To the possibilities 

within 

discomfort.

 

We were made 

for change

 

Made 

to be unmade

and to adapt

 

To not avoid 

the unfamiliar

 

But to know it 

as an opportunity 

to grow.

 

-------

Naming

 

-------Naming-------

 

I have hesitated to write you

as I have yet 

to learn your name

 

Not the one 

that settler gave you

but the one you call yourself.

 

For many years 

I have welcomed Spring 

with your presence

 

And wandered 

within the fragrance 

of your becoming.

 

In the dark, 

wet places 

of the woods

 

I have watched a honeybee find your flower

and emerge 

with pollen on their back.

 

From that brilliant sun 

you hold within

a gold-

 

Speckled,

magenta 

beak

 

I am reminded 

we all are kin

and children of the stars.

 

I have hesitated 

to write 

you

 

Because I have yet to hear your name 

spoken in the language 

of this land

 

Because Skunk and Cabbage 

do not invoke

the magic that you convey.

 

But today 

I write you

without naming

 

As a promise 

to keep the ears 

of my heart open

 

So I may hear you

someday

when you call.

 

-------