Tree Huggers

This post is dedicated to my nephew, Brandon. Brandon, I wrote this little poem several years ago when I was at a Women Who Run With the Wolves retreat at the Cenacle in Houston. Hope you enjoy! :)

Have You Hugged A Tree Today
Dedicated to Laura Lerod, a "real tree hugger"
part of my "pack", May 21, 2006
The face of Mother True in my dream
Thank you for your part in my evolving.

Have you hugged a tree today?
I have.

Walking the perimeter of the Cenacle,
I chose a path not made of asphalt or cement.
Instead I chose a path into the woods--
albeit a path well marked.
Still, it had the feeling of adventure and journey.

I took the spot of the farthest chair as my place of solitude
to listen and learn from She who was around me,
then I sat with Mother Earth and heard,
"Hug a tree."

How foolish and tiny it seemed--
yet I have done foolish and tiny before
and received great joy--so
I hugged a tree.

Mother Pine stood straight and tall,
firmly rooted, yet stretching into the sky
so high I could not see her top.
Timidly I touched her, then put my arms half-way 'round.

Foolishly, feeling silly, timidly--
then with sublime audacity,
I embraced her fully.

She did not hug me back,
but instead received all I had given her with a grateful heart.
She received me and let me practice hugging her--
And somehow I felt restored.

I stood there,
at the Cenacle,
in the woods,
at the farthest chair,
hugging Mother Pine,
my skin touching hers...
I smelled her fragrance
as she sniffed mine.

We became acquainted, she and I,
standing there in the woods that day--
me foolishly hugging her,
she lavishly receiving me.

I too know what it is to hug a tree--
and why.