SKY WOMAN'S PEOPLE

The Hanging Garden Tree

on the Tall Tree Trail, Meares Island,

Tofino, B.C.

The Iroquois speak of a world

that exists high above

the world we know,

where life is much

as it is on earth.

Sky Woman fell to earth

from the Sky World,

and the giant Turtle 

provided his back

for her to rest,

and this is how

we began.

There is a

Tree of Peace

that I visit.

Its name is Opa,

and it is as old

as all the trees of time.

When I rest my hands

on its rough trunk,

I feel its ancient heart,

beating,

and understand

what Endurance feels like,

my heart slowing its beat

in compassion

for all that

it has witnessed,

all that it has weathered,

all the storms

and lashing winds,

the crack of lightning,

the hot summers of thirst,

the times when

the chain saws came near

with their blood-curdling sounds.

Sky Woman peopled this world

with dreamers,

all of whom spend their days

gazing at the sky,

our cellular memory

vaguely recalling

the height from which

we have fallen.

We spend our lives

trying to

get it back.

A creation story poem from 2012, shared with the Poetry Pantry at Poets United this sunny weekend.