Shinrin-yoku by Michael L. Utley

Image Source: Canva

I have bathed in forest’s em’rald essence

I have nestled, secreted away, in

Jade konara copse

I have placed my palms

Soft upon the scabrous skin of giants

Whose slowly beating hearts have shattered stone

Whose deeply delving fingers grip the earth

In lover’s embrace

Eternity is far too brief a time

For such a love as this, for such a love

Trees have for the earth

I have for the trees

Gazing skyward at my green universe

Amid kisses from ubiquitous night

Which fall like star-flakes

Through the canopy

I sense the unheard language of the trees

A faint susurrus welcoming me home

A shush of contemplation on the breeze

Voices of the trees

Quietude enfolds me as, eyes closed, I

Breathe the conversation of konara

Listen with my heart

To all that matters

The living scent of moss and loam, absorbed

Through every pore, a heady, arcane brew

Inebriating

Lulling, as the moon

Lets down her hair and deigns to coyly peek

Through silver-gilded burled boughs and leaves

And shyly paints moon-dapples on the ground

And the trees, amused

Approve with bowing branch and shaking leaf

As midnight sighs and winds begin to waft

Shadows blanket me

As I drift to sleep

And in my dreams I see konara copse

As though I were a bird in winging flight

Illumined by the

Golden summer sun

A living, breathing testament to life

A vibrant beating heart in tune with earth

A mother who gives birth to all that lives

Oh, mamori tai

I will protect you, my konara copse

For you have given me the gift of life

And I owe you a

Debt I must repay

*shinrin-yoku – forest bathing

-MICHAEL L. UTLEY

Mike is a deaf writer/photographer who lives in rural southwest Colorado, USA.  His love of nature shines through his poetry and photography, both of which he uses to make sense of his world.

Please visit Silent Pariah to read and view more of his wonderful work.

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