wondering in the woods, the creative process…

During the pandemic, I allowed myself much more time for reflection, for mind wondering and early morning rambles in the woods. This was my safe space, my home, my refuge and the place in which I allowed myself to be whoever I needed to be in that time. I was going through an emotional time with various health issues challenging my husband and my mother and, I used the early mornings as an escape from it all. Visiting the same area of woodland repeatedly, becoming familiar with the trees and the greenery, the way the birds sang and the fern grew. Together, we weathered the seasons.

I often took my sketchbook and would sit on a particular tree. I came to love that tree. Her strong trunk fallen from the high winds of a previous storm and her branches reaching out in to the leaves. I spent a lot of time with that tree and, this poem, these words are what came from a reflection one morning.

While I am no wordsmith, they represent a time of hope, pain, perseverance, joy, sadness, togetherness and separation, growth, peace and turmoil. However above all, a feeling of calm and acceptance, of myself and of the process I needed to embrace at that time.

UNTITLED

Here she lies upon her side

Surrender

Sacrifice

Bold and fruitful are her roots, they grasp, they hold

To soil strong, to a life betrayed

Here she lay amongst the dappled leaves, the children of her branches

Overcome, at mercy

Silent.

Patient.

She grows, reaching tired arms further outward, towards the light

She knows her place,

She must stay

Beautiful, tethered, peaceful

Accepting of her fate

She rests, sighs

Alone she feeds the forest bed

Exposed

Lost at home

She knows, she loves

She is Mother