Living Tree Poetry

Let the oceans roar
and foam.
Let the mountains tremble.
Let them.

For what can we do to stop
a mountain moving,
or an ocean that erupts,
except risk ourselves hurt.

The mountain belongs not to us,
nor does the ocean dance
to the wants that rise and fall
in our own hearts.

An ocean is its own being,
and a mountain
hasn’t feelings
that we can predict.

Yes, none of us act always
as others expect,
and influence aside,
all we can affect is ourselves.

So let the ocean roar and foam,
our life is hidden in the hands
of the one who precedes and follows,
but gives us responsibility.

Outside the ripples of the lake
that our cast stones make
he watches, and reminds us
of the still central place he resides.

Which like a port in a storm,
or a promise,
feels something like the undergirding
of an assured support;

upon which the mountains move
and the oceans come up against,
but which have no real power
to impact.

So let the oceans roar
and foam.
Let the mountains tremble.
Let them fall into the sea.

We shall remain in place
unmoved by circumstance,
or fears, or tears that fall
and pull in tides of grief.

There is no last word
that hasn’t already
been spoken over us.
We are as safe as we’ve always been.

Ana Lisa de Jong
August 2018

‘God is our refuge and strength,
a tested help in times of trouble.
And so we need not fear even if the world blows up
and the mountains crumble into the sea.
Let the ocean’s roar and foam
Let the mountains tremble!

Photo:  Carol Haines