She Smiles at Me from Forest Floor

I spy a face among the leaves

Her soft gaze carried in the breeze

with light and shadow rippling there

among the strands of filmy hair

wherein lies all the knowledge bare

for me to see and touch and feel

we are the sacred spinning wheel

of all the cycles of the earth

Gaia breathes to give us birth

see once upon a fairy tale

into Her world I set my sail

and traipsed across the midnight trail

with winds and tides of air

so light I felt my bosom rise in flight

the wings that carry far away

into the dawning of the day

and there I see Her face once more

She smiles at me from forest floor

of damp decay and drying leaves

of interwoven lives that I believe

can hear Her call across the void

and sing Her songs of splendid joy

She is the fairest one of all

and I am Her and She is me

we are the trees that stand so tall

we are the broad expanse of sea

Her face I glimpse and I am free

to hear and know and live and see

She peeks around the edge of oak

and scurries up the scratchy bark

of living symbols standing firm

when will we ever truly learn

that all we are is out of Her

from earth and water

fire and air

our spirits in the ether fair

a glimmer from Her loving eye

can bring a tear of joy to mine

I feel Her near all times of day

to walk or run as my heart plays

or in the darkest shadow fall

feel her know her she is All

I walk the woods this later hour

feeling deep her spreading power

all around I hear her whisper

a twig nap here

a rustle there

and just a glimpse of fairy hair

that's caught upon a brushy snare

limbs of trees across the path

that trip the ones who dare to laugh

at Nature's messy beauty jumbled

like the river rocks once tumbled

are the smoothest in my hand

they shape and anchor Gaia's land

I am only simple cells

formed in one shape skin and bone

and here within my spirit dwells

just like how we are all as One

I look into Her eyes and see

the grace of love fulfilling me

I look again and we are one

Her face is gone our work is done

for when I do no longer see

the separateness of Her and me

then life will be paradise complete

and we will fall on our own feet

for I will find the sacred heart

is always mine and yours and ours

there is no you or Her or me

there is just us always we

so when I spy Her face among the leaves

I know the image is just me

I honor all the gifts of Gaia's shroud

through conscious thought and prayers aloud

I speak to others what I feel

no more secrets all revealed

for Truth is here and now forever

among the leaves wherein we gather

___________

SoulCards® Deborah Koff-Chapin, Center for Touch Drawing