I am connected
To those who came before
Those who sowed seeds
Those who sewed clothes
Those who raised children
Those children are my ancestors
Those who escaped harm
Those who stayed behind
Those whose blood was shed
I am connected
To the trees that grew there
To the teas my grandmothers brewed
And their food
To the plants they used for healing
To the land they moved within
Pushed away from
Settled into
Torn apart of
Hurt others on
Reoriented themselves by
Survived on
And didn’t
I am connected to the ground I live on now
To the pain caused by people who think they own it
To the color that blinds the heart’s deep vision
And the harm caused by perversion
Entitlement
Supremacy
To the people who cause the pain
To those who hurt
Now and then
To the people of the land
To the plants that still grow
And the plants that no longer
To the trees the soil here nurtures
To the fires that burn so much
And to the survival of a lot
To the seeds of hope
And the ashes
And the seeds of loss
To the rocks and the sand and the ocean
To the fame and fortune this city is obsessed with
And the world
I am connected to the babies I hosted in my body
And the life that they create
To who they are becoming
The unfolding
To their love and my love and our love
To the future that they make
To the children that might come through them
And to those who might not come
To their choices
To the land that they live on
That we leave in their care
That I hope together we will learn to tend to
The stewardship of dirt
And the call to make good soil
I am connected
To you
To who we could become
Alone
On our own
Together
Maybe we will never
But perhaps we will
And nothing is forever
So we might as well
Fill our hearts with breaths of possibilities
Connected
Mountains and forest and foothills
Streets and roads and paths
Sunshine and rain
Fungi and clouds and moon
Stars in the sky and snow
Thawing and flowing
Streams and falls and rivers
Crevices within rocky terrain
Plants
Leaves
Branches
Grass
Roots
Boots and bare feet and bears in caves
And grandmother
Standing on a rock
Circling in the air above ground
Holding a bouquet of wildflowers
I am her seed that turned to fruit
I am decay that fertilizes memories of future
She smiles softly
She is connected
Eyes and bones and glands and stones
Place and nowhere
Never and always
Hair and smile and wrinkles
Time and space and the twinkle in her everywhere
She’s not her own body
Still her cells strangely pulse within me
We are connected