Reasons to Be

In this skin
it is becoming clear
that I have many
reasons to be
exactly the woman
I have become.

It is not easy to hide
in the forest when I have become
one of the only remaining trees.

Slowly you have cut others
to the ground
and let them cure,
drying up all sap
until the bark
is loose and brittle,
cut into perfect lengths
and burned
all season long.

But I stand firmly rooted
even while all my sisters
and mothers
and sometimes daughters
leave me to the open sky and sun
for long days of heat
and the endless stars
and darkness of the night.

I stand,
arms stretched
in prayer,
and accept the embrace
of this posture alone
as the blessings
for reason enough
to be present
and ready to blossom in spring
proved shade on the long days
and release my grasp each fall
to become the peaceful observer,
the perch for all things
that fly away,
my mind soaring
and offering never
to return.