Sunset

                                                                                    Google Images
Sometimes life feels like the sun’s light
Bright warmth finding us from the outside
Yet it only shines on us for a short while
Before the night holds us in its arms again
Offering a view of the stars and the moon
Things left behind, unseen in the day's light
Sun's promise to return quenched by color
Drunk into soft darkness by a thirsty sea
As we watch satisfied by life’s sweetness
So alive in that exciting precious moment
That seems to sit still until we look away
Then retrieve it again and again and again
Until we remember the one who is beside us
Watching the same sun set in their own way
Feeling important to time and love and life
Before night stars whisper into our dreams

Stick

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Today has always been a cloudy, rainy day
It has been since I woke to disagreeing birds
Scolding an owl perched in a tree near their nest
I heard the crows first then finally the owl called
My day has been the same – silent predators sighted
Waiting for money or other things that I don't have
I did all that I could then brought myself to the river
Immediately, I thought I needed to see a fish jump
Over there in quiet water so I could be sure I saw it
I watched red bodies glisten above muddy water before
I have seen it but not today when I thought I needed to
That is nature’s way – to serve its own master - not me
But a smooth wet stick floated expertly on the river
It went right by me, turning and rolling in the current
I watched and lost myself - more than if a fish had jumped
That is nature’s way – offering unpredictable richness
In its own, ever-changing and always present moment

Spider Lake

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Water on the dark pond is still right now
And I do not look away when I see into it
I am detached - unafraid to see the bottom
The sunken trees, soft mud and rusty cables
That line the edge of the lake look dangerous
Lying there silently they tangle fearful minds
Awakening fear through our obscured blindness
Stealing swimmers breath by unforgiving touch
Hiding there forever under the rippling breeze
Of changing times, forever jealous of our life
As they listen to the bark of finning fish sing
And feel the empty tickle of leaches landing
While snails trail across slippery green algae
That slowly replaces a branch’s brown bark
As it falls away in slow-motion from a tree
Landing alone on the lake’s muddy bottom

Confusion

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I wish it wasn’t this way
Lost inside of life’s confusion
Never leaning the other way
Yes, I learned to be human
And that was no simple task
But I must have learned well
As my dog follows me closely
Never once have I left him behind
And I only feel love for his being
Sometimes more than for mine
Even when I don't understand him

Music

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Listening to Latin music
Falling asleep in sweet perfection
Waiting for the weather to change
Hearing the voice of springtime birds
And satisfied with summer clouds
That run ahead of their season
Unconcerned about their world below
But I think and dream of them now
Cotton batting high up in blue sky
Aware of me like a proud parent
One who walked loyally behind me
still visible and silent but high above
Still steering away rocks that threaten
And helping fight strangers that challenge

One Life Forever

                                                                                                  Google Images
A handsome baby boy
Was born into the land
  Standing tall and strong
As he grew into a man
He kissed a pretty girl
And joined her gentle soul

They made a baby girl
Before he went to war
Shot among his friends
He died in soldier hands
He was carried to a plane
And taken to his land

Still before his wife
  Lay a tattered flag of strife
Grieving through the flag
She missed him with her heart
So buried him in ground
  Spring flowers all around

The pretty girl grew up
While daddy wasn’t there
She loved her mommy so
And shared her golden hair
She never knew her dad
His absence very sad

Change

                                                                                       change is good Yahoo
I so seldom look for change
And I never embrace darkness
But running away forced change
While reaching beyond my balance
Before the burn of longing left
Uncovering my biggest prizes
The ones that I remember best
The ones that I carried longest
Places that grew comfortable
As I watched dreams fade dim
Now I walk fear burning bright
Deep in my heart beside love
While we approach a future
That neither of us can know
But will wait for us forever
The precious moment of now

Clouds

                                                                                            Yahoo Images
Come to the clouds with me
Do you remember them at all?
Walk with me among them
Then float with them yourself
We will know you are there
In your sky of authenticity
We will still see you there
When you cannot see yourself
And we will share that joy
Right across our lifetime sky
As it finds us for a moment
Or for days and then forever
Each and every one of us

Fullness

                                                                                               Yahoo Image

Did you find it waiting?
Was it resting in plain view?
Or was it hidden in a shadow?
Did you take a risk to reach it?
Or does it still wait in silence?
Know it is the time to move on
When you cannot remember
Where you have come from
Or where you dream to go
In this mystery of your life
that belongs to you alone

Wishing

                                                                                                 yahoo images
 Watching for one wave
Waiting for one wife
Whistling for service
Why am I not special
When I am wanting

Lost

                                                                                 Yahoo images
Remembering the past
Dreaming of the future
Lost before the present
Waves run in the ocean

Climber

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Physical, emotional and spiritual
Three rungs of an endless ladder
Rungs that can never be climbed
In the usual way of ascending
You know, left foot above right foot
One over the other until the top
It seldom seems to work like that
We raise ourselves by longing alone
And although the rungs are separate
When our love is true and unlimited
The three planes touch and merge
Making all things simple and easy
And the knots that tie the strands
Can never be teased apart by man

Earthbound

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We live in a cloud’s shadow
Worshiping the sun above it
Waiting for a moment's proof
When sunlight fades a rain cloud
We have chosen for our home

Fine Weather

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Fine mist followed fine weather
The sun shone silently and steady and strong
Every day of the week till now
The mist has brought everything back to new
Returning it to a bright memory
All things renew and become wiser for time
As we mistakenly measure things
By the mysteries of lifespan and awareness
Diluting ourselves as a species
By differences in education, jobs or money
Whatever things make us bigger
Not just happy, not just healthy but bigger
Longer or taller than the others
Except for those we silently long to absorb
Before we measure ourselves again
Loosing the longing that brought us here

Sunshine

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The sun is seldom seen
Where it has always been
Floating across the sky
Each and every day
It rides or sails away
Into space it trails
As earth spins, wobbling
Fully waxing, partly waning
Muted behind soft veils
Tethered tight by light
That disappears at night
Forever changing seasons
Behind the onion skin of now
Following life's dream onward

Sun

 

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The sun is here to stay
For summer anyway
Then days get short
And sun sets low
As autumn comes
The grass will grow

The sun can’t see her shadow
It is drowned out by her light
And we'll never see a shadow
That lives in the dark of night

Ice

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Ice and water
In a glass half full
I watch and listen
Waiting for something
But nothing happens
I swirl the glass
Nothing still happens
So I add more ice
Raising the glass
To my breathing nose
Swirling steam
Out of the glass
So I add more water
To slippery ice and air

Gulls

                                                               Google Image

Seagulls soar high above the flapping sound of wind. They fly bright-white through sunlight wedged beneath dark clouds that are heavily shaded by taller cloud brothers enjoying the cleansing feel of sunlight in their wispy wet hair. The seagulls play in the strong wind like unstrung kites in a gusty breeze – they bounce and jive and soar off beyond ground-vision. What really catches my eye is the brightness of the seagull’s feathers beneath the slate colored clouds that seem to save their rain-drops for a storm. There aren’t that many gulls - 2 or 3 but they own that space in the sky. Their soaring must be more freeing to them than the scheduled food that is offered below at the residence for the aging. They often beg for food at that place, standing on the ridge of its roof but right now they are flying free from the earth’s pull, forever in this moment and needing nothing

Robin

                                                                                      Google Image

I have been sleeping all night long
In a wonderful comfortable bed
But now the robin wakes me
Knowing that the sun will rise
Robin opens herself to the miracle of song
I wonder what she hears when she sings
For me lying down with the window open
I hear God flowing through her willing body
And then back into the morning dew
Again and again and again she calls
The singular beauty of that morning song
Draws me out from this aging body
And fills me with wonder and joy
As I glimpse the infinite expanse of a world
That my mind doesn’t need to understand
I lie alone opening my heart to everything

Springtime

 

                                                                             Google Image
This is not my place alone
But I love to walk here
With my dog Chester
We grow old together
And walk more slowly
Now than we did before
But I see more than before

Snakes in the sun
Gathering warmth
Plum trees in flower
Scenting a cool breeze
With the intoxicating
Richness of plump
Pink blossoms

Green grass now growing
Over an edge of path
Bluebells, daises
Dandelions flower
Around mud pressed
Springtime footprints
Left by dogs and owners

Pieris' red leaves
Are distinctive now
But they too, will change
With summers more serious
Mood of green growth
As black bees buzz
About my head

There simply is too much
To notice everything
But spring calls
Into every hollow
Urging everything on
And holding nothing back

Spring maestro
Lives in each heart
Of every living thing
Playing each of us
With beauty

Clouds

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We are living under the clouds
Entering them the world is lost
The map we follow is inside us
And beyond those misty clouds
  Is a blue sky brightened by sun

Anxiety

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Stomachs don’t digest anxiety
So anxiousness wrestles
Nervous in my stomach
Pushing at its walls
Avoiding the dark secret of gut
And its dark, twisting pathways
Anxiety can’t stand alone
It is the shadow of fear

Weather

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Some days made forgotten days good
Others made dull days bright as new wood
As our life sailed forever on oceans blind
We only experienced the weather we'd find
Whether calm and mild or dark in a storm
Every day was different - each day reborn
Its importance was noted on pages of soul
Watching a truth unveil paths and our role
Toward the narrow point of a longing bowl

Blindside

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I never even saw it coming
Maybe I forgot why I am here
Like so many others forget
But it sat me up awake
Losing what was lent to me
To use and share for a lifetime
The gift I chose for all

Really, what I took for granted was life
The most precious and unlikely thing
We could ever encounter in any eternity
Life is a gift that lives beyond all dreams
A foundation for the universe that we see
The best teacher of compassion and peace
It survives the sleep that dissolves our past

Life forgives everything
Except what we carry
In our precious way
Until we change forever
Embracing deeper beliefs
That wait beside our stream
Patient beyond our lifetime

Sunny Periods

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There are clouds everywhere in the sky
All different colors, different sizes, different shapes
I haven’t got a clue what direction they are going in
All I notice is that the sun feels very warm in my car
But it feels too cool when we sit in the shade with the engine turned off
It seems bright and hot and then shady and cool every minute or so
The car windows are going up and down in unison as we crank them
Tulips and daffodils laugh with color but hide in the silence of their buds
There is a stillness in the spring-time gardens as we drive the highway
I enjoy the weather’s demand to be noticed today and the gardens too
It is not that much work to roll the window up and down
The dog is sleeping and my son is sitting beside me
Talking about the hot girls that he met yesterday
As our windows roll up and down together

A Feeling

 

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I don’t know whether to call you by your name
Or maybe I should just speak straight into God
Were you trying to teach me that love does not exist
Or were you afraid to feel it burning inside of your soul
The situation does not matter;  I know it is real - I felt it
Far inside so I know love is there and it will be there forever
In a part of me that won’t be forced but always seeks to grow
To find a way and a place to be infinite and beyond all edges
Beyond hope, beyond truth, beyond reason, beyond every thing
Love always makes its own rules with compassion for all
Not always with softness and never with pity or spite
Simply what is right and good for all is the best thing for me
Courage is necessary even when it doesn’t seem hard
And felt Love will always be real

Testing

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I found a rock to toss
It was perfect for testing the mud and the water
The goop that lay ahead
How deep and how soft
How mucky their clutch

I found a stick to probe with
It was perfect for testing the water and the mud
The goop that lay ahead
How deep and how soft
How mucky their clutch

I took a step
And felt the cold water and slid into the mud
Feeling violated again
By this world that looks easy
But bites hard when tested

Then I felt the world’s embrace
From the mother of us all

Deer Trail

                                                                       Oregon Beaked Moss - Google Image


Oregon Beaked Moss softly feathers over black rock
And cradles brittle white patches of Reindeer Lichen
Liverwort crescents trace drip-lines of shore pines
Rising from mossy hollows of the moist green ground
There are only a few species of trees that grow here
Arbutus and shore pine can survive in small hollows
But all the trees here are shallow rooted under moss
Trees can thrive trough winter dampness in this place
But mossy ground will crunch summer dry all around them
And on that dry summer day these trees may just wonder
Why they ever picked this silent place to struggle in

Deer have walked through here I can tell
They have browsed on the few low shrubs
And left smooth round brown droppings
Along the trails that cross the land
Trails that lead away to somewhere else
Trails that lead to here from somewhere else

I can’t say for sure how these trails were made
Or where each of these bare earth ribbons lead
And I have never seen a deer on a trail here
But the deer are here and so are trails
I've just never seen the two together
Not like in my garden below that hill
Where I have watched deer walk both ways
Very early or late in the day’s light
Into and out of our planted garden
Along steep and narrow rock pathways
That cross the hill behind our home
All leading toward the wind-blown sea

                                                                                Reindeer Lichen - Google Image 

Light

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The sun's coming and going
The clouds toing and froing
Both have readied us for change
Showing nothing stays the same

Yesterdays light was a gift to sight
Viewing across the afternoon light
Sparkles bright bounce off the Bay
Soft thin cloud patched in the way

Blown by wind and turned by earth
Trees and mountains shadow dirt
All these things can beat their drum
As sparkles ride and ripples run

Steady wind seemed newly made
Wave-less water filled the Bay
All I watched was dimpled sea
Reflecting sunlight back to me

Shivered light across green sea
Looked transparent in front of me
And sparkled sun bounced my way
No matter where I stood that day

But now the sea seems different
Its bright light is harsh arranged
So squinting tight I turn my back
To shield my eyes with a wool hat

Today the sea is darkly raked
Streaked with foam chased by wake
Ripples on the waves aren't kind
Harsh reflections of sun can blind

Sunlight is always changing
And it makes every day amazing
Although we never peek for fun
Somehow we know it comes from sun

Borrowed

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The world loves life that lives
Seeds and leaves both borrowed
By all life that lives embodied
In this generous place that gives
Freely bodies and their beauty
Sensing the silence in change
The world expects every bit back
Changed only by its vision

Water Wakes Joyfully

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Pure raindrops given to seas
By streams that carry life
Are precious in their task
And know their beauty well
But surrender to a larger will

Every stream offers beauty
Between rain clouds and seas
To water that it carries
Over the bright surfaces
Of slow yielding rock
Under tall green trees
That love the cool stream
Close beside bright silver fish
Helping the water remember
A moist community of love
The places it came from
The places it will go
As water sings joyfully
The song of its stream

River Flow

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How deep does the river flow
Is it something like my soul
And often hidden from view
Under ruffled surface flow
Or contaminated by ego
A distorted reflection of self
Why seek reflections at all
Every heart knows the truth
Whenever it feels it, nearby

Windows

                                                                                              Windows Wallpaper


Cleaning windows is hard work
Vinegar and old newspapers
They left the windows bright
But my finger nails look black
And my skin smells of vinegar
Cleaned windows draw my eyes
Expectantly, outside toward
Light and color and movement
All occur to let my mind know
What the other world might be like
But every good window opens up
To let sound and air pass through
Along with the light from outside
Helping us to feel the world
The bigger place that holds us
The one that waits for us

West Coast Winter

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The Canadian West Coast Winter has been mild-grey-dreary and wet this past year. The sun looked at us through a blue-bright dry lens yesterday for the first time since summer. We could feel the sun’s warmth during the afternoon. Everything seemed to know that spring is coming. The lawn and the garden the birds and the animals all seem to sense it. I know it is coming too. I made the first cut of my mossy front lawn and walked across its plush clean green - seen softness. Moisture seems to hold in it and the moss is so alive after the moist mild winter that it seems to emit its own soft greenish light. A push-mower catcher full of its fuzzy clippings is so different from June’s coarse-dry-dark-green-bladed crop that I have learned winter is the moss season while late spring and autumn belong to the grasses. Summer is dry and brown for my lawn but the dog sleeps on it softly all year round.

I weeded the gardens last weekend and they look brand new among the green mossy lawns. The plants and trees all seem healthy and seem full of good expectations even the ones that are leafless. I like this time of year – just in front of an inevitable spring that is coming. This is the season when doors and windows begin to open even if they have just been cleaned. Open windows and doors let the music out and the air inside allowing crisp air and love to mingle everywhere. I will wait without thought to send the sweet alder smell of fall and winter up my chimney but I will send blessings for my family when that day arrives. Winter in the woods can be a quiet time of contemplation while spring can invite color and movement back to our world

Body, Mind and Soul

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Some times we need to hold on
Other times we have to let go
The heart is the one that knows
When to hold and when to release
The mind is missing something
To captain the heart and hand

Our still mind is often silent
When our life flows at full bore
Feelings tingle through our body
When our smile finds a generous soul
Mind thinks ~ that seems like love
Feelings know ~ this feels like love

The mind and the body
Must have a lot of courage
Because they both let go
They are the ones that die
After our marriage to life
The mind and the soul
May come to know each other
Before they separate forever

Souls and Minds are so different
Together, they can make music
Or art or poetry or love
Apart, they can become
Ragged enemies to each other
Bound together for a lifetime

Heal your body’s pain
Admire your kind mind
Feed your soul love and wisdom
And fly with your body and mind
Where your soul wants to go
Until death pulls them apart

snow geese arrive

 Google Image

I left late for work today
It was nearly seven AM
The sky beginning to light 
Carried great calls of geese
High in the sky, approaching
I waited for them, watching
Until their great wave arrived
Thousands of snow geese
Flying and calling in a jagged line
Geometric lace stretched
Right and tight across the sky
From one side to the other
The line of captured calls
With out any stragglers
Passed me by high and quickly
Flying fast and straight
Walkers hid under leafy trees
In case they were bombed from above
But these were snow geese - not seagulls
When the line of geese had passed
And it was quiet again
The people left their shelters
And scurried toward their day
Another wave of geese announced its coming
Thousands more came
In a diamond studded weave
That passed over me
A speckled weave of sound
Flying north into the river’s marsh
That waited for them
I have never seen so many birds
And all of my life I have waited

Cormorant

                                                                                Google Image

A black bird rises quickly from the river into the breast of a gentle breeze. Turning tightly downstream, the bird swoops beautifully toward the rounded rippling body of deep water. It is just the bird and me in this full and simply complex world but nothing is missing and there is no room for anything else. The bird was feeding and I am walking neither of us knowing we are blessed in this moment.

I watched the bird carve a long moment from the breeze with its sleek black wings and start a slow assent downstream. Before I could imagine it, the lone cormorant flying fast and low turned to follow a distant bend in the river leaving me alone but filled with tearful feelings that I can’t explain.

Cathedral

                                                         Google Image

Mist settles close under winter’s cool breath
Hushed quiet looks straight through to my soul
Everything is raw and everything is important
Our future is always ready for us to appear
Always greeting us an excited servant of life
In every-way it knows everything is earnest
It reminds us that life rolls-on never sleeping
Then in a moment - just like every other one
Unrehearsed, we are returned home again
To that earlier familiar place of forgetting
That truthful place that we wandered
And the community we never forgot
So let go of the facts learned in school
Hold on to the things you know in your heart
Let life and learning fold back into their dreams
And long for a truth that you really need to know

The Past

 
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The mist is heavy enough
To silence a green Ocean
As if a wave is waiting
For the wind’s encouragement
To rise and rush at the shore
With an important story
From a far off salty sea
Painting, singing or sculpting
Its own exotic past for us
  On rock or wet sand beaches
Like a star’s light streaming
Across the black night sky
It brings us far lost moments
While we stand alone forgetting
Warm stories from our own rich past

Winter Morning

                                                creative103.com photo

I sat on a cold driver’s seat in darkness
And fit the key in the ignition by feel
The car seemed to think about starting
When I turned its old key fast past run
But the manual choke revved the engine
And promised to warm the car in a while
My cold left hand let go the steering wheel
And buried itself in the warm nest of my legs
I knew it wouldn’t take long to warm up
As the softly frosted windows cleared
For a moment with each spray of fluid
I watched the windshield for progress
It was beautiful,,, a clear playing field
Of mystery and beauty for water and frost
As the sweet warm breath of a childlike God
Was playing across my glistening window
Each bouquet of frost spread out in pans
  Forming quickly in a white magical way
Giving each streetlight six pointed ray
After the engine warmed - no frost survived
What a miracle of water and frost I watched
As if they never heard of the rules
That fashion all the other compounds

One specific example is that water expands when it changes from a liquid to a solid.  This is the opposite of most other compounds which typically shrink in volume as they solidify.  In other words, while other compounds typically increase in density when they 'freeze' - ice density is lowed when it freezes.  This means that ice floats on water and therefore the bottom of lakes remain accessible to aquatic organisms for living and feeding.  Without this unique physical property - life would not exist here on earth as we know it.  Ecological diversity would probably be much lower than it is today (if water dependent life survived at all).  Bottom dwelling aquatic insect species in far northern and far southern aquatic habitats would be most severely affected if ice were to increase in density when it froze.  Sinking ice would likely starve or kill these organisms and stress all the other species that depend on them.

Longings and Wishes

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All you need to do is to notice your love just one time
And you'll always know its there as the world changes
So there is no need to pretend the promise of an other
And if we wish to change an old unsatisfied longing
Like a fish long out of water it will loose its lit colors
As life within it disappears invisibly with its struggle
Until no breath can breathe life back into its dream
Some longings can hide in our past but still reach us
Longings that we wish we never knew or grasped on to
Shiny lives we dreamed when it made good sense to us
But life changes for all of us and we so seldom look back
Time moves and our heads believe we can’t see that way
Minds think the past has been poured and sits forever set
So walk lightly with your wishes and feed them every day
Love them one-day-at-a-time until you stand together
And they grow into you and you grow into them
Until they take you to the place you are already at
Where you can walk forever in your own dreams

Blackened Bark

                                               photo credit Steve Norman
I see the burned tree
Just there above the roots
Was it a lightning strike
Or a grass fire uncontrolled
That marked this tree
I can’t tell by looking
At the ground around
Or at other old trees
Below the winter breeze
As their living tops sway
Beneath the breathing sun
It's an old tree from its size
With a scar near its roots
Much like one I gathered
In my own young innocence
The scar long forgotten
By the tree’s tender tips

Fir Tree

                                   Google Image
Broken branches lie on the ground
They were nipped off by yesterday’s wind
It combed hard through the winter forest
We all stayed away from the forest that day
To let the wind litter its danger from above
When calm returned the wind had done its work
The high forest waved soft and clean and green
In the early light of a quiet morning’s birth
While all the broken branches seemed satisfied
To lie still on the ground around their trees
I think these branches were never alive by themselves
But were the high-up pathways that life traveled within
As it longed to reach the sun, feel the clouds or hear birds
Until the wind broke them off and dropped them to the ground
Their needles still green and fragrant with life’s sweet breath
Summer birds will never notice the missing brittle branches
As they will perch and sing and nest on other branches
And life will find other pathways through its trees to travel
We will also make new pathways to walk along if we need to