Living Tree Poetry

Things save us.

Yet, we’re told to hang onto faith,
to not put our trust in the concrete,

the things susceptible
to change.

We are told to hold our beliefs safe
in heaven,

in a tomorrow
eventually won.

Not an earth that fails us,
inconsistent

at every turn.

But I wonder if things,

are not sometimes
just what we need.

That sometimes
we need the solid,

the here and now
substantial.

The strength of a towering trunk
and its overarching branches.

The sun,
which each returning day

deems us worth its brilliance.

And these walls,

which keep us warm and dry
and shut out fast the night.

And the doors
that we can lock,

and choose to open,
or not yet.

Sometimes we need the blankets
we can pull high over our heads.

And the strong arms or chest
we can lean into

encircling us in the dark.

Yes, I know

we are told to trust
in God in heaven,

not place our hope
so much here,

among the broken things
of earth.

The here today
and gone tomorrow.

But I’m aware how I’ve found God
and a reason for continuing

a thousand times over again.

This hope,
resting upon the imperfect

and a world forever opening its arms.

Ana Lisa de Jong
Living Tree Poetry
May 2019

‘If there is nothing you can share with other people,
try to be close to things.  Things will not abandon you.
The nights are still there, and the winds that move
through the trees and across many lands.
Everything in the world of things and animals is filled with being,
of which you are apart.’
Rainer Maria Rilke