I walk the deer paths in the quiet of the wood and breathe in oneness with every creature and consciousness here. I am the sweet nectar of the songbird’s lilting trill. I am the sunlight sparkling on the leaves. I am the silent signal of the standing trees holding all in communion with the Earth. I am the soft whirring of the wind. I am the heart of healing light that lives in this realm of rebirth. I am the deep stillness of the forest consciousness grounding all within my reach. I walk; I crawl; I scurry; I fly; I shine. My roots stretch down into the soil. My limbs long for the embrace of the sky. My heart beats in The Silence. I am the forest. I am Spirit. I am alive. ~ Diana Henderson
Diana Henderson
Autumn
Autumn has been my favorite season for as long as I can remember. I wrote this light-hearted poem about autumn many years ago. I hope you enjoy it!
When the garden spider weaves its silken strands
And Jack Frost’s icy fingers touch leaf and land,
I dance in upon the breath of the North Wind,
And on all of Nature’s creatures I descend
Offering the gifts that only Autumn brings —
Fairer by far than all the rites of Spring.
No longer the days of toil and sowing seeds
But time to harvest the fruits of all these deeds.
The heat of summer gives way to gentler days
And crisp nights beneath a sparkling Milky Way.
A time for romance under the harvest moon,
To listen, to dance once more to Nature’s tune.
And each sunrise brings a world of brightest hues,
A landscape of brilliant colors to peruse,
A dreamlike scene caressed by gossamer threads,
A kiss of frost like dewdrops on spiders’ webs.
Just around the corner, winter lies in wait,
But woo me well and this year it may be late!
© 1997 L. D. Henderson
Call of the Forest
The forest beckons me. I hear the wings of birds settling on high branches that drip with sunlight beneath an azure sky. The crackle of fallen leaves under my feet resounds in my memory. The trees intone their silent song that all may hear who listen with the heart. Can you hear them?
Tree Children
Several years ago my husband and I bought a live Christmas tree that we planted in the back yard after the holiday had passed. Even though we planted it with care and nurtured it as best we could, that beautiful little tree did not survive. Its seeds did, however, and all on their own they found a way to grow. Now instead of one tree, there are three little ones thriving in our yard in the spot where their parent tree had lived. You can see them in this photo.
Where Once You Walked
Parents, grandparents, ancestors, long ago you paved my path into the heart of the forest. You walked in her stillness and let the hushed tones of the trees speak softly through your psyche. Your breath slowed in time with her pulse in autumn and winter. You felt the spring sing in your veins and the summer ignite your inner flame as she held you safe through the seasons of change. You let her call wash away the boundaries. She took from you the cares of life and wrapped you in her blanket of peace. In her bosom, you were whole. There in the woodlands you found respite. Nothing existed except the moment—the sound of the leaves beneath your footfalls, the droning from a high hornet’s nest, the cool damp or the glistening heat or the gentle wind brushing your face.
I cannot go into the forest without knowing you are with me. My blood, my bone, my life remember that you passed this way before me. I have stepped where once you stood and seen the wonders that you beheld so long ago. So today I walk in the rain to see the little brook flowing on its journey, to touch the dripping branches and feel my feet sink in the soft ground. Only one set of footprints in the mud perhaps, but a long line of loved ones walk with me.
© 2015 L. D. Henderson
Solemn Shades of Winter
Solemn shades of winter
Bathe the land in stillness;
Trees bare of verdant growth
Reveal gray silhouettes against clouded sky.
Deep within Grandmother Earth
Warmth awaits rediscovery,
But for now the time to slumber,
To release into winter’s bosom
And go inside into the Silence.
Wonders lie within the dream state
Beneath the surface of what we see.
What visions may unfurl as we sleep,
Regenerating the creative genesis
To unmask a new paradigm,
A golden age of Light,
That lies beyond the murkiness of a troubled world.
So in the quiet of the turning year
May we dream together
A planet re-birthed into peace.
Sunset on the Water
Silhouetted against the last silken stream of sunlit sky,
You stand quietly absorbing those final rays
As stillness overtakes your inner senses
In the prelude to the hush of nightfall.
A golden glimmer reflecting on seamless water
Entreats you to call back the sunlight
So that once again it might melt into your branches
And remind you of the far-off spring
When your heart’s blood begins to rise anew
In the time of the greening.
So you cry out to the setting sun lowering its head
Behind your brothers across the lake,
“Linger just a while with me,
And let the shine of your gold lift me
Once again skyward.”
But swiftly the peace settles into your psyche
And the comfort of the sweet Earth beckons you inward
Into the dreamless sleep of trees.
© 2016 L. D. Henderson
To GrandPop and All the Trees I Love
As the day ebbs toward dusk,
You show your heart to me.
Framed in sun and shadow—
Quiet light among the trees.
And I have not forgotten
All the times we have talked
On these sojourns to the forest
As through your woods I walked.
Your branches bending low
For my own heart to embrace,
Your world of such wonder
Onto my soul is traced.
I will stand with you always;
I will never let you down
From the roots sunk below me
To the top of your crown.
And so I write for you,
My friend, as I always do,
For never was there another
More stalwart or more true.
Ever your winding brook
Sings its lilting song to me:
Come again into the forest
And live among the trees.
© 2016 L. Diana Henderson
This photo was taken in the woods behind my home. You may notice the red heart to the right of the tree in the foreground. What a gift!
Ode to Sunlight
On such cold, wet days, the trees and we like to remember the sunshine; so today I wrote an “Ode to Sunlight.” I hope you enjoy it and that this photo reminds you that the sun will come out again soon.
Encircle me in sunlight;
Let me drink in its sweet rays.
Let me climb out of the night
Into bright and dazzling day.
Blanket me in your sunbeams
From a gentler clime than this;
Lift me into your light streams
And fill me with solar bliss.
Gift me with your golden song;
Let me join in its refrain.
Whisper to me all day long
Until lasting light remains.
And when sunset paints the sky
With the colors of your heart,
I will breathe your softest sigh
And know we will never part.
© 2016 L. D. Henderson
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Soaring with the Hawk
I hope you enjoy the latest poem prompted by a most marvelous afternoon in the forest yesterday….
I found myself in the forest,
The way home to my heart song—
Here in the place I love best
Among the trees where I belong.
Through the hidden passage I walk
Where no other soul has gone
As overhead the red-tail hawk
Surfs high on the winds alone.
So I rise to join in his flight
Though my feet still touch the ground.
Together we soar to the light
From gravity now unbound.
My soul and the sky become one,
Stretching wings upon the wind
Climbing closer to the sun,
Feeling freedom without end.
Still the Earth sings her sweet refrain,
“Child, come back to this dear place.”
So as the day begins to wane,
I return home to Her embrace.
© 2016 L. Diana Henderson
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