Born Again!

I woke this morning
to rise before Sun
seeking witness of virgin shafts of light
dancing with shadows while
piercing the bows of tall Ponderosas and
caressing towering Firs too

I unzip the door of my tent
parting the curtains of my womb
and there opening before me
from the entirety of the universe
is an invitation
flooding into my awaking

Grass blades spill freshly washed green upon a mountain meadow
their tips yet dripping drops of rainbows
as a white mist drifts in the river valley below
honoring gravity’s serpentine desires
while the rain swollen rushing waters
rise as music with Sun’s early rays
informing and filling the very air inspiring
my sniffing the freshness of this new day
and a pair of Albert’s squirrels
with their busy bushy tails and tasseled tall ears
play tag up and round and down trees
and Mule Deer dressed in her tan coat
steps alertly along
the faint forest trail uphill of camp
and Robin sings still “I Am!” since four AM
Flicker too now joins the chorus with her song of life
as Raven is circling and talking in the distance
and a single purple and white wild iris
is now naked in fullness of flowering
as if its life depends upon risking this “Yes!”
in a world yet unveiling itself

I too choose this risking
claiming who I am
born again in this new day

Reflections:

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” —John 3:3
— English Standard Version

Not all folks who are walk are alive or awake, perhaps you too have noticed. This poem is an attempt to notice and celebrate the wondrous childlike experience and invitation in waking up to being alive, particularly as it is offered to us within the wilds of nature.

The senses more easily open here, filling me with a love of life and washing me clean of the angers and hatreds and jealousies that can easily inhabit one when we forget who we deeply are, when our identities are so immersed in the human realm we forget the elemental wonders of our existence. This loss of primal contact with the birthright of our being is a trauma to the human spirit and soul. It inevitably is an experience of separation from self and so from others too… and this is the fundamental personal and collective trauma driving so much of the suffering and angst of our times.

May you ease your days with intentional and conscious intimacy with your own deep being and nature.