When I Am Among the Trees

l to r 1. miss yucki 2. ayrelia lt 3. ing00te 4. the tree wiz 5. go make me 6. stella hats 7. the fire pit gallery 8. dress me

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”

['When I Am Among the Trees' by Mary Oliver - a poem for each of us because we do forget don't we, forget to go easy, forget how we are each filled with light, how we each naturally shine]

an update on animated gifs - i've found a very easy free program for playing with. the quality isn't great but it's fun. go here to try. here's one that i made with a photo of our shrine at the buddhist centre last week, overlayed by a pic of the full moon.