caught
by your sun song
sung unseen
(oh) your precious birds’ words
struck
by your steady edge
etched steep
(oh) your deep Himalayan sides
drunk
on your thinning breath
shallowed breadth
(oh) your heady high sighs
snagged
on your timbered ways
sweetly waylaid
(oh) your clear forested gaze
soothed
by your woolly wails
soft entails
(oh) your tiny tender touches
freed
by your let go
can do
(oh) your sweet, bitter goodbyes
and you—
did you see me too?
(oh) did you feel it too?
Written in 2019, during a yoga retreat in the lower Himalayas with my teacher, Jim Harrington, and a group of remarkable people. We spent a lot of time moving under canopy, in dappled light, and inhaling arboreal exhales. For me, this poem is about being in relationship with nature and with others, and wondering who really sees who.
ARTWORK: Suket Dedhia/Pexels
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