Songs for the Seasons

*
Once I was a sparrow
on a windy spring morning.

I spread my wings 
and lifted off
into the sky.
I soared
and swooped
and lifted and looped.
I let go
and shifted up
and up,
higher and higher,
and then even higher,
flying over the spires
of the trees and
letting the
breeze
be my mistress.

**

Once I was a calico cat
on a hot summer afternoon.

I hid in the flower garden
and felt the warm earth
beneath me.
The glorious hot sun
shimmered and
shone above me
like an exquisite diamond.
Its magnificent heat
poured down upon me
and warmed my bones.
I dozed and dreamed
of impeccable
things. And then
I woke
and wandered
home for dinner.

***

Once I was a rainbow trout
on a rainy autumn evening.

I twisted
and turned my body
in the cool flowing river.
I slipped
and dipped and
let the will of the
water take me where
it wanted.
And then I drifted
near the surface
and floated. From below
I watched
the drops of
rain ripple and stir
the water in
a thousand growing circles.

****

Once I was a black bear
on a cold winter night.

I slept in my den
and shifted now and then
until my
cubs were born
into the darkest
of the dark. I licked them
clean and soon they
found my milk.
I could feel their
tiny bodies moving
next to my skin,
no longer within.
Together we nestled
until the light grew
and I heard a sparrow
sing its song of spring.

May these words bring truth
and healing through open hands and hearts.
And then, let it flow back into our Mother Earth
for the love of all her beings.

Cover art: Stephie Jones