Great Fathers of the Forest

Tall and noble you stand
Members of a sacred council
Silent in wise consensus

I remember your rooted past
See your swaying present
Imagine your reaching future

I sense your patient pulse
Touch your fibrous skin
Embrace your ample girth

You and the earthworms
Alone are the survivors
Of a lost world of giants

You are the guardians of time
The keepers of ancient wisdom
The elders of our earthly tribe

What would you teach us
If we had the humility
To sit at your feet and listen?

What secret knowledge
About surviving and thriving
And growing old gracefully?

What patient lessons
About thinking big, starting small
And aiming high?

I am a comforted babe
Rocked to sleep in the cradle
Of your gentle ways

I am a curious child
Scaling the heights of possibility
In your outstretched boughs

And when I leave
To pursue my impatient life
I carry you in my heart

And when you or I die
You will be my ancestral guides -
Oh, Great Fathers of the Forest