Autumn washes over me and I feel the rhythms within shifting and slowing just as I witness the earth and nature around me settling in for winter. Taking a hike with the boys in the woods I felt much energy in the death and decay surrounding us knowing it simply gives way to new life. My own caterpillar heart is filled with summer sustenance preparing for what is yet to be. With my eye always on a lookout for a wild swimming spot, this lovely shaded pool presented itself with its magical golden leaves giving me an opportunity to immerse and engage letting my creativity flow.
On Being a Leaf
Into the forest I goBuzzing bumblebee tumbles drunkenly with crocus,
Luscious amanita lures with seductive treachery,
A council of elders gathers by the river,
Rock sends a loving smile up from the trail.
A still pool
Beckons (of course)
Fed by autumn's waning flow,
Golden birch leaves gently rain upon its stillness
I step out of me
Into the biting cold
Ooh... Where is my Ocean's familiar embrace?
Breathe
Deeply.
Leaves surround, envelop, warm.
The cold recedes.
There is no yesterday
There is no tomorrow
Only golden leaves rest in the pool,
Decaying, transforming, preparing for the next part of the journey.
A golden leaf floats in the still pool
Surrounded by light and love
Soothing water,
Flows by
Imperceptibly
Emerging, leaves cling
Aah... Like kelp from the sea.
I am the water, the water is me.
The pool recognizes
I am a leaf and of the water.
Later.
Thermal water beside a cold river.
Leaf still lies on my breast
Feels the warmth
Gives comfort, again.
Despite shifts, drying, and clothing, leaf holds on.
Leaf is me.
Later.
Standing beside my night time pool
Clothes fall
Waning moon brazenly observes
(we have no secrets, it's okay)
Oh... dear leaf
Still clings to my heart
Moon smiles with me
As she tucks us in.
Diving into my nocturnal pool
I swim into slumber
Forest, pool and leaf envelop
Later (now earlier).
As dawn lifts my lids
I rest in my pool
Leaf still clings to my breast
Wonder, awe, magic.
© 24 Oct 2021