By Jessica
Bare feet tenderly touch down
On the gnarled muddy roots
Anchoring my family tree
To this precious Earth
The drumbeat of her lava heart
Compelling my toes to grip
And pulse
Sending ripples of dance
Through the miracle of muscles
And bones
That make up my soul vehicle
And store the cellular blueprints
For my journey
Mother Earth whistles her wisdom
Through my bones
My blood becomes the melody
Orchestrating her intelligence
I am her instrument
Every ancestor is a note in her song
She strums my life with
Her fingers of mystery
These roots make a treasure map
Where gems and riches of wisdom
Gifts from my ancestors
Are hidden in the knots and holes
Buried in slurries of mud
Under boulders of time and tradition
Many of these treasures might have been lost
If it weren’t for the gleaming
Pulsing points of pain
Persisting throughout my life
Despite my best efforts to be free
There my great grandmother’s tears
Weigh down my heart
Calling me to dig for the treasures
Hidden at the bottom of the vast pool
Where her eternal roots drink
My great grandfather’s fire
Fear
And fury
Smolders still in this rotten swamp
The ancient one stands at the edge of the stench
Calling her clan
My clan
To beat the drums and dance
Vibrating these roots free
Of the sucking sickness
Reminding them where to find soil
That gives
And how to give back to the soil
All the burrowing creatures come
Bringing air into these suffocating pathways
Eating the rotten roots to stimulate new growth
Clearing away the dam to let the dampness drain
Bringing breath into the smothered fire
So it may complete the renewal
And as the flow is restored
The treasure is revealed
Even here
The wisdom that nurtures healthy roots
Unhindered and connected
Interwoven with the pulse of life
Evie is assisting Jessica to publish her work online
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