“Field Biologist”

I love the goddess

As she calls to me from the tumbling waters that are cold in January or the bathtub waters of August

I examine the little blessings she leaves along my path:

Mushrooms, trillium, bloodroot, hickory trees

I think that there is something special in the salamander that crawls under the decaying leaves of the forest floor

The bracket fungi that spring from the rotting logs that are returning the gift they had once been given;

I try to appreciate all the life, all the energy around me -

The constant recycling of nutrients -

Everything in the forest is being sustained and intellectually I take it all in,

Knowing the processes, having studied them.

But sometimes the sun weaves through the trees a certain brilliant light, seen through tears, humbling me with its beauty.

And that’s when I go deeper, to a place I have a hard time reaching:

Going from head to heart where the mind lets go and a new force of nature opens eyes that so often stay closed

And somewhere the biological activity comes together in a way I can only describe as “whole”.

Throwing all my field guides and training aside

The only thing I can identify is love.