ROOTS -TheGrayContestWeek4

ROOTS

I am drawn to a peaceful sanctuary
Down by the river
Where I walk with the dogs each day.
Lucky Dogs!
No leashes. No tags.
Free… other than obedience to my call.

There is an ancient beaver's house
Above the flow
In a thicket of willows,
A huge thing, abandoned now,
The beaver decades gone,
Like golden leaves slipping away
Upon the rivers tide.

I think I am the only one alive
Who mourns the derelict house,
The fish that once swam in deep pools behind the dam,
And dry flies cast
On quiet waters.

I bring the beaver alive in my mind…
Not so very far away really,
Only a thin vibration of time separates us,
And I sense the shadow of their lives, here,
As they swoosh past my legs.

This past spring beaver returned
To this place on the river.
I rejoiced, oh how I rejoiced,
To see one play in the flood!
He slapped his tail when he saw me watching
And dove into swirling waters
Gushing through the willows.

Weeks later,
Flood gone,
I was amazed to see the small beginnings of a dam.
Perhaps there is a sacred vision, or dream, or memory
That told the beaver,
"Here. Here is the place your kin once lived,
Build here."

Over slow drifting summer days
I watched the amazing engineering
Of stones and mud, willow branches, logs, and muck
Become a dam.
A good thing too…
There was little water in the river last year,
Until I could cross the shallow stream in a single stride.
Thank God the beavers work protected a reservoir of life
Behind their dam through the grinding time of drought.

I stop here each day
In a grove of cottonwoods
Close by the beavers' old home
And breathe the energy of this place
Blending my spirit with the trees,
The owls, and all living things.

But today my soul was captured by a different dream
And I sensed a dark loamy world beneath my feet.
Startled by the suddenness of the vision
I whispered, "Ho, I know you. I know you."

I removed my shoes and socks
To form an intimate bond
And dove into another reality
Where I was astonished to find
A labyrinth of roots,
Forming an incredible forest
So vibrantly alive.

I flew among those roots
Like a raven spirit
Knowing the very essence of that world,
Knowing we all have roots
Deep within the earth.