Belonging: Poems from the Trees

I've been thinking a lot about the way many of us relate to nature as though to our own hearts. It's a way to find home. Not only in the world but in ourselves. You know that feeling when you enter the woods? (I'm thinking of Forest Park in Portland, Oregon, here). 

It's as though you've stepped into a hushed and misty space of trickling water and trees slanted in light that is almost other-worldly. It's hard to believe that one foot back was the regular, bright sunny world of cars and appointments. 

But, there it is! 

And, when you think about it, visualize it, write about it, (as I've done in my poems below), something can emerge in you, can light up as though it's always been there. Because it has. When you look inside, there is peace. There is the green, the hushed stillness, and the fragile, bright light. Take a moment, if you're willing. Pause. And, allow your inner forests to awaken. 

You Matter

The language of the heart resides in nature. 

When you feel lost, go to the woods.

When you feel forgotten, find the trees.

They will listen. 

Bring back their stories. 

Their bark holds great wisdom. 

Their roots are your roots. 

They have been there. So, now, are you.

The wind in their leaves is a messenger.

It speaks of change and being.

It speaks of what it is to last 

and to surrender at once.

When you wonder if you matter, 

let your soles touch the earth.

Let your heart find home.

This is matter. This is belonging. 

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Belonging: A Poem from the Trees

Opening to the mystery of bee song,

wooded path and

Spring!

(We can be happy here).

Misty tree in the freshest forest,

unfurling fern and hazy light.

There are deer in the distance

pausing to sip water

pausing to join the forest

in its awakening;

you can feel them 

listening.

Be still. Listen. 
You can hear with your whole body.

You can feel the mist lifting,

the ferns unfurling,

the motes of dust singing their song in the earliest of dawn.

Even drifters find belonging here.

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Dr. Heather Schwartz is a psychologist in Portland, Oregon who delights in working with people who are seeking empowerment, interconnectedness, and the aliveness of being.