TREES, YOU, AND ME

I have always felt a close relationship with trees. Oaks are my favorite because they stand tall with branches outspread like arms welcoming the wind and sun.

Learning, watching, and being more like trees can teach us about life and how to live with more peace, joy, and fulfillment.

Here is a poem that illustrates how trees and humans are similar. This poem touched me deeply and reinforced what I have believed for a very long time. My thanks to some dear friends who recnetly shared it with me.

HUMANS AND TREES
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light
But stood out in the open plain,
Never became a forst king
But lived and died a scrubby.

People who never had to toil
To gain and farm their patches of soil,
Who never had to win their share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became sturdy in their lifespan
But lived and died as they began.

Good timber does not grow with ease,
The stronger wind, the stronger trees,
The further sky, the greater length,
The more the storm, the more the strength,
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and people good timbers grow.

Where thickest lies the forest growth,
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken bramcjes show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.
(Author Unknown)

In my book of short stories, When I Rise: Tales, Truths, and Symbolic Trees, I write about twelve different people and their journeys and life lessons. A particular tree is the symbol for each story.

Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/When-Rise-Tales-Truths-Symbolic-ebook/dp/B0818DZPBX/ As with all my books, all proceeds go to gynecologic cancer research.

Thank you for visiting my blog today. Your comments are appreciated.

FICTION IN A FLASH CHALLENGE #23 @pursoot #Writing Community #IARTG #ASMSG

My thanks to Suzanne Burke for this week’s fiction in a flash challenge. The photo prompt is beautiful and from it I was inspired to write the following Tanka poem.

I'm falling, falling
My fears hold me back from life
I'm trying, trying
To overcome and be free.

I'm praying, praying
Til fears are gone and I'm free
While angels guide me
To a life free from falling.

Like a waterfall
I now bring joy and beauty
To those who see me
Living life fully with love.

When you look at the photo prompt, what thoughts, emotions come to you? Does my poem speak to you in any special way? Have you experienced times of feeling lost and afraid? I welcome your comments.

I invite you to go to Suzanne Burke’s website and learn about this talented and award-winning author. https://sooozburkeauthor.wordpress.com/

FICTION IN A FLASH CHALLENGE #16. JOIN THE FUN! @pursoot #Writing Community #IARTG #ASMSG

Welcome everyone to my blog. It is with great pleasure that I share another Flash Fiction challenge. Suzanne Burke, an award-winning author, has provided a photo prompt, which is quite beautiful of a wolf in a wintry scene. I love the photo and wrote the Tanka poem as shown below.

WINTER SNOW HAS COME
AND I'M LOST FROM THE WOLF PACK
BUT I DON'T GIVE UP
SEARCHING THROUGH THE SILENT WOODS
HOWLING WITH MY HEAD RAISED HIGH

My thanks to Suzanne Burke for providing this flash fiction challenge. I invite you to go to her website, read her amazing books, and follow her blog. I encourage you to try to write just a one liner, a short story, or a poem based on that week’s photo prompt. https://sooozburkeauthor.wordpress.com/

What thoughts and images come to your mind as you look at the photo prompt? What emotions come forward? Fear? Loneliness? Danger? Sadness? I look forward to reading your comments. Thank you for reading my blog.