Spring rebirth...and death

The forest and rivers have been calling with their energies of renewal and abundance. The rivers are rushing high and fast from late winter rains, urging us to shake off the winter hibernation and get moving. The leaflets and blossoms are popping on trees, and wildflowers are starting to bloom in rotation. I’ve been feeling the call to be outside, getting in a hike every weekend. Last weekend I was called to McDonald forest. It is managed for recreation with plenty of hiking trails, and also for logging by Oregon State University’s school of Forestry.  I came across a patch of forest that had been marked for logging. The ones to be cut were marked with pink paint and flagging tape. I stood awhile in their midst, just being with them, acknowledging their lives, their gift and their Spirits. I was called to leave packets of MariEL energy for whatever was needed in the area.  They gifted me poetry. I translated the best I could.
 
Ode to those who will be lumber
 
Heartfelt gratitude for you, noble trees and your dryad kin
For all the oxygen you’ve birthed and carbon dioxide transmuted
And the hillsides you’ve stabilized, anchored and rooted
with dirt made from the organic bones of your ancestors
 
For birds you’ve nurtured, squirrels you’ve fed
The shade you’ve given and dancing shadows cast
Your root-cabled forest internet of messages passed
Through the underground cities of microbes beneath you
 
For the rain drops you’ve caught and the mist you’ve hugged
For releasing pollens and seeds on the breezes well flown
Now surrounded by children you birthed, the Elementals you’ve known
For all the stars you witnessed born and dying in the night sky
 
For the Sacred prayers you heard and poems you inspired
For all the homes you’ve been and the homes that you will become
stacked at sawmills and stores when the harvest is done
Already I miss your wildness