I am looking for the parts of me I have lost. Where are they?
The invisible ones, I mean. Not the bones beneath skin, the blood red pulsing, not even the magic helix—no, the stuff that I can only sense inside my thoughts—the currents that should contain all those things that have lived through me, leaving their imprints on my past, on my wishes and dreams, on the choices I have yet to make.
My emptiness continues without plan or path. I recross myself and return over and over to the places I imagine I have already been.
Something sparkles in the branches, catching my attention. I glimpse light moving, connecting one thread to another, forming patterns. I breathe in my existence.
They have been waiting for me, kept in trust for my return—these memories were left here with the trees.
This is in response to another old photo prompt of Sue Vincent’s (above), from May. I did the art but never wrote anything to go with it. Merril’s prosery prompt at dVerse, to use Jo Harjo’s words, “These memories were left here with the trees” in 144 words of prose, reminded me of the photo, so I pulled out the painting again.
K. 
A perfect fit. Your musings on emptiness strike a chord with me.
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Thanks Jane. I’m so thankful for trees.
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We take them for granted. Ours are thirsty but our piggish neighbour is still pumping out all the water from the stream to sprinkle on his vegetables and grass. Illegal of course, but who’s going to denounce him?
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More trouble than it’s worth, unfortunately.
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Can’t get on bad terms with the neighbour.
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No, but it’s often tempting.
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🙂
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If our memories are to be rooted, what better place?
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So true. I can’t think of a better one.
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This is wonderful… almost like the myth of the firstborn, being filled with the woods.
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Thanks Bjorn. I like that interpretation.
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This is beautiful, Kerfe, and these particular trees, at Avebury, are part of a landscape with a very long memory…
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Thanks Sue. It’s a beautiful place.
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It is…very.
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Our roots are deep, some hidden from memory, but always calling in unexpected moments.
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They do. Thanks Olga.
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Excellent writing Kerfe ! Good use of the prompt line. Enjoyed reading this evocative piece. The accompanying pics are wonderful, especially your work.
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Thanks Rob. Trees are always inspiring.
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This so beautifully conveys something so many of us have felt. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks Antonia.
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My pleasure ☺️
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So beautifully rendered, this.
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Thanks Bela.
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Wonderful, Kerfe. Sorry for just getting to it. I agree that it sounds like a legend. I particularly like the way you opened and closed it. I think trees must carry deep thoughts and memories.
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Thanks Merril. I think trees are what hold the world together. (and no apology necessary)
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