bits and pieces 1

I recently heard that a poem I wrote a few years ago is going to be published in an upcoming anthology of women's writing. Yayyy!

Here's a sneak preview for those of you who won't make the book launch!

A tree poem

a winter tree showed its heart
to me
one crisp afternoon
when birdsong pierced cold
through the milky sunlight

from its wide-girthed trunk
a mighty limb had been sawn
in its place
an almost-perfect oval of woody insight
called to me as I passed

boldly bare
free of knobbly bark
its ring told of its life
in swirls and whorls

I craned my neck
up, up to its crown
of brittle leaves
still and golden in the light

under my feet
its roots wound deep, deep
to where spirit gives birth
to earth and stone

I reached out to touch
and a current of connection
silent and strong as oak
coursed from its flesh
to mine

sometimes
only a wound
can reveal the naked heart

bits and pieces

Embracing the God of Wine