Welcome
to this body
a vessel
In which I swim through the world
With childlike wonder
Alone

But not at all lonely
Rest assured
I care deeply from afar
The distance allows me to breathe

I,
the single tree,
driven to a frenzy in the winter wind
Wild in the Forest
I belong
here
Moving in unison
Collectively
Communicating beneath the soil

I
Stand fast
strong
Against the odds
I can,
from
This rock,
Perform
toes curled
Clinging to everything I feel beneath me
I am precious, my fellow animals too
platform feet hold firm
Tensely gripping
talons pierce the ground
Drowning in the rarest of rainfall
Which feeds the forest
But prevents access
To this valley of mine

Persistent is the water
falling from the sky
Life giving
Holding on
for future drought
The cold
Bites at my bones
This body
Muscle clad
But
gangly,
disproportionate
Imperfect,
it droops and sags,
Awkward and asymmetrical
I strive,
to dissent

Acting
obsessively,
reflecting and reacting
a disciplined quest for perfection,
controlled
Futile in its unattainability

Your words
like the wind
cut through
Flooring me
I bruise like lichen
With unwanted growths
I pluck and try again

From this space
I connect with you
A new form of speech
A new way to reach you
With stretching arms to grasp hold of
Something
Tangible
Real
I stand tall
Rooted
I, the forest

Please
have patience with me
For I know not what I do
Only that it is something other…