These underpinnings, these feelings,
Thoughts, fantasies and dreams
Rooted in the earth and in our bodies
Let's explore and understand
My heaven may be my hell, just brighter
And more forgiving: lustrous leaves,
Fragrant flowers and fabulous fruit
Grounded by my roots and their health
My dark shadows lend their texture
To every moment of my waking hours
Diving into the deep, moist soil of my soul
My tap root strong and solid full of
Colorful threads, winding tight like a baseball
Pushing through the soil like a carrot's plunge
To the core of my being, to the earth
Filaments running off the tap root
Enjoying their own geographical adventure
Searching for minerals and water, other beings,
Sources that will be scooped up and into
This entire plant and soul
Roots move water and food upwards
Into my tree of life. I need these roots
To function and sometimes fear root rot
Or worse, to be root bound
Roots can be torn apart
By the upper world, the harsh
Aggressiveness of building homes
Water pipes, sewers and concrete
Protecting my roots, I hold the dirt
And my plant sturdy but cannot know
When a tragedy might occur, like a
Tornado, a hurricane, or a storm
Or just an injury for only one
Uprooting my plant and my roots
Forcing me to fall up above the earthen
Floor, I need help, someone or something to
Replant and repair my roots, to keep me alive
Once restored and healed by human
Animal, plant or divine assistance
New and tender shoots sidle
Out from my fibrous filaments
Connecting to other plants and trees
To other people’s roots down below
We nourish each other underground
(And sometimes, above ground)
Below visual view of our human plantings
Connections like secretive holding hands while
Kneeling on a church choir pew as a teen
Both erotic and spreading, we each
Wrap ourselves around other roots
Engaging, sometimes endangering and
Sometimes nourishing all of our roots, plants
We cannot survive or thrive
Without these other beings, who whirl
Around our succulent growths
Bringing us food and drink
As we do them in our attachment
Our interrelatedness
Why, we even need worms in our lives
To keep the soil aerated for our best growth
When thirsty and weak or all alone
In this community underneath this planet's
Ground, we commune and communicate
We share our resources
Gaining from this interconnection
Developing this hallowed, healthy community
And when we people and other living beings
Transition to another
Space or time, we may be buried or deteriorate
Underground or our ashes sprinkled
Above the ground, Mother's Nature's
Nest and womb.
As below, so above
How do we tend to our roots
And also help others grow?
