trees

Cotswold Forest

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“Cotswold Forest” is the name I give to a lovely group of trees 20 minutes from our home on Emory Lane in Charlotte. Marianne and I liked to take walks together, in parks and in our own neighborhood. When we moved to Charlotte the first walk we discovered was a simple one. Take a right … Read more

My Tall Green Friends

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The wind is an elemental force The tall trees sway Mysteriously they speak to my soul Rooted to the ground Life older and greater than I I know not what changes may come But my tall green friends Lend me peace and hope

The Poetry of the Forest

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Acadia National Park, on Mount Desert Island in Maine, was our favorite place. We went there for vacations almost every year of our thirty years in Massachusetts, and we went back three times after moving to North Carolina. The first major mountain hike we took at Acadia was Triad – Pemetic. Marianne discovered this hike … Read more

Twin Pine Trees

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Almost every day I go for a walk. Often it is the familiar walk I took with Marianne, although there is another walk closer to my neighborhood that i take now too. So there is a choice. This morning I took the old familiar walk, but there was still a choice: how far to go. … Read more

Timeless

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This morning I felt a call to do my familiar walk that I took with Marianne almost every day. Growing up in California and spending many years in the northeast where there are no mimosa trees, finding them here in North Carolina was a nice discovery. I remembered a poem I had written under the shade of this same tree and searched for it. I was surprised to find mimosa mentioned in six of my poems! This is the first one.

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Letting Go

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This morning I took my regular walk for the fourth day in a row. It did not start out that way. I had a busy morning ahead and thought I would do a shorter walk, but a quiet voice suggested I start out on the regular walk and go as far as our special tree. When I got there I knew to go on and complete it. The morning was even more eventful than expected, and I could see increased activity ahead, which i knew in my heart was not my soul’s call. I remembered this poem, and I was grateful.

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The Divine Puzzle

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Today I took the walk in my neighborhood that I had taken almost every day with Marianne. It remains a meaningful walk to me now, and I feel a call to resume an interrupted practice of taking this walk every day. On it there is a special tree that has many resonances for me.

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We Are Not Alone

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One day while feeding birds at the Raptor Center I was pondering why I was here and Marianne was not, and about the sorrow in the world. I thought of how small deeds can really help, how we are connected and are not alone. I sensed there was a poem to be written. After my shift I went for a walk in the adjoining Latta Nature Preserve, and this poem came.

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