In the April of Covid 19
Day 21
“And the birds of the winged tree flying my name”Dylan Thomas
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| The World Tree The Wild Wood Tarot Fair Use |
Parable
This side of the grave
and endless wandering
I come at last to the place
where I shall lay
my cheek upon the chest
of the one tree press an ear
to the heartbeat
of an unfolding tale
and surrender my name
to the roots
of the world that I may become
the parable of four seasons
leaf fall and bud
rotten and growing beyond
the living maze
and firesong guardian
soul of the ancestors.
Skylover Wordlist: Parables
Play It Again Toads: Tree Mythology
Inspired by The Wildwood Tarot by Mark Ryan & John Matthews, art by Will Worthington.
This is exquisitely drawn, Kerry!💘 I love the image of "the parable of four seasons, leaf fall and bud rotten and growing beyond," it makes me want to enter the door into the tree roots and hear what it has to say from the inside!🌳👏👏
ReplyDeleteI love the door in the roots too!
DeleteThe endless wandering....and to find the place to rest...within the parable of the four seasons. A beautiful write with so much told within so few words.
ReplyDeleteThank you. After three weeks of writing, I am tending to brevity!
DeleteUm...not planning on leaving us any time soon, are you Kerry? I'll assume this is just a poem about the excellent metaphor of trees to express the life cycle, and a dandy it is.
ReplyDeleteWho knows when that door may open for me to enter, Shay? Hopefully not too soon.
DeleteI, too, am hoping these poems are a meditation only. LOVE the idea of hugging a tree , the "firesong guardian, soul of the ancestors."
ReplyDeleteA tree is ever a symbol of wholeness! Thank you, Sherry.
DeleteWhat a beautiful parable of life's cycle... We leaf and wither into our rest
ReplyDeleteThat is what I hope to convey in this poem. Thanks, Susie.
DeleteI've always loved that particular Tarot card (and the deck it's from). Also your poem somehow reminds me of Bran and the Tree in Game of Thrones.
ReplyDeleteThe tree is deeply embedded in Celtic mythologies upon which GOT draws most heavily.
DeleteI love your world tree, Kerry, and the idea of ‘endless wandering’ before pressing ‘press an ear / to the heartbeat’ and listening to a ‘parable of four seasons’. It reminds me of the story of the Green man and other Celtic myths and legends. Trees have so much to tell.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! The Green Man is very much present in this poem.
DeleteNature speaks in volumes both silent and loud. Trees are just miraculous for what they offer and how they engage and behave - who can't be in wonder at their resilience?
ReplyDeleteThis poem is just lovely Kerry - speaks with a quiet determination and resignation to surrender and even in the final moments or hours, to accept that all re-cycles down and into the One and Whole. Who wouldn't want to perhaps, go quietly into the good night, as opposed to fighting, if this would be a resting place - one of peace and comfort?
I've enjoyed this complexity and poem and of course, I wish you many long years of peace and happiness - earthbound, as it were.
Beautiful and resonant, with the sustaining beauty of the natural world, and the comfort of its life-giving order. You describe our small, intense moment of life with great clarity and make it seem part of the larger whole, however we may ignore that. I especially love the continuity and connection in the final lines, which make the sadness and brevity of our passing names in the wind tolerable.
ReplyDelete