THE MYSTERY OF OUR LOVE
The very first memory I have
is when I lived in a housing project in Virginia
It was called Hillwood Square and there were small houses,
joined and set one beside another
along sidewalks that extended for about a hundred yards
Along these sidewalks to the right and left
were small grass lawns and then the small rowhouses
A narrow walk went between the main sidewalk
and any particular house
Up and down the sidewalk on either side
were very large oak trees
Their trunks were 2 to 3 feet in diameter
They rose up straight for a long time
before there were any branches at all
Then they spread out
in a glorious, thunderous foliage
They must of been 150ft tall
They were the largest living things I had ever seen
The forest had been carefully cut down around them
leaving them standing,
one beside another
up and down the long sidewalk
One day I was walking down the sidewalk
It must of been within the first 5 years of my life
and
This is the first memory I have in this life
I felt the trees feeling me
The silence became very loud
and filled with the sense of 'other' living presence
We felt each other, the trees and I
I bathed in their ancient quiet regard, their community of living
I sensed my smallness and their hugeness
I felt them feeling my size as well
I felt my individuality well up like a secret, just between us
No one else knew this thing
In just this way
I now,
also feel the immense presence of a Tree
An ancient oak of love
It towers over the paths we walk
and the things we say and feel
It is the oak of our life, of our love
It does not call out
but
it is present
When I become aware of it
I become aware of how small we are
I become aware of how vast is our life
I sense a great and vibrant community
and
This feeling is secret, just between us
Like the rhizome of a mushroom that only shows
itself around it's fruiting edges
it is a surprise
No one else knows this thing
It is the mystery of our love
