This is me

Talking to my grandmothers

My aunts, ancestors, wisdom holders

An oak, the tallest in the bush

I hold onto it

I wrap my arounds around it’s middle

She is who I cry to

Scream to

Beg, plead, pray

She listens

They all listen

They understand

They live at the back of our land

They can see our house, hear the sounds, the screams, the fists hitting wood

The threats

They see the lights of police cars late at night

They hear my tears

They feel my heartache

They know

They feel it too

They tell me how to be a tree:

Bend, don’t break

Stand in prayer

The earth and the sun and the rain give you everything you need

Breathe

Be still

Hold your hands to the sun

Let your roots reach deeply

We are here

We will help you

Love and support and understand

Allow

Allow that which you don’t want. It isn’t up to you

We will stand beside you

Through it all

And at the end

The sun will shine, the earth and rain will provide what you need next

The birds will nest in our branches

The moss will come

And eventually we will become the earth.