Begin at the highest summit and think downward.
Above: light to dark and back. Within you, your animal-sized
land
and sea. Life moves in your body in sentient streams.
Thank each plant for the treasure of oxygen. Feel
the gifts of plants in the yielding corners of your lungs.
Thank each animal for the lessons it teaches.
Remember wildness rocking in the soul of the tamed.
Ease your attention to the workings of your heart.
Red springs of life-force whip through your blood;
you recognize life as belonging to all who inherit its
alchemy.
Invisible birds move in your body carrying in their beaks
strands of connection between all things that cannot be cut.
Your feet send movable roots into the ground everywhere you step.
Down through each layer of the planet, time’s signature speaks.
You enter the ultimate deepness in Earth’s core, the bass roar
of magma
shifting like a fiery herd of mastodons.
You know yourself to be as fragile as a filament of silk.
Jennifer Pratt-Walter, © 2024
