amid the trees
my back against this giant
how I wish
my life could be here
with the ferns and mosses
dense silence
among the old ones
may my arms
become branches, my feet
send down their roots
a velvet night
and my pulse slows
I look up
to the canopy
and a shimmer of stars
in the temple
of leaves light filters
to the floor
let the bark of my body
change with the seasons
tread lightly
as the forest has ears
I listen
to the wallabies
jump through shadows
my lungs fill . . .
the mountain’s breath
tumbles
down the ridges
into the sound of water
Lorraine Haig