infused with
what? forms shimmering,
unfocused,
almost not
there—breaking into bits of
color, sprinkled light–
watching the
air, you can’t quite be
lieve, place, what
you thought you
saw, significant portions
of which have faded
into blurred
memories that have
discarded
their presence–
the lost and found of the mind,
a vast space without
an index–
tangled up with myth,
stray remnants
dismissed as
merely imagination–
how do we discern
what is true?
maybe what is real
is really
made up—all
wrapped together in spirits
that are beyond sense
Brendan at earthweal discussed land-spirits and asked us to write about a local spirit. My locale has been NYC for 50 years, but within the city it has been constantly on the move. I thought first of birds and trees, which made me think of my own trees that move with me from place to place. My lemon trees are nearly 30 years old, grown from seeds planted by my older daughter as a young child. I also have a corn plant tree, rescued from the basement discard room in an apartment building I lived in briefly about 15 years ago.
I carry their spirits with me, but I have also given them form from time to time. Like the plants, they provide companionship and continuity, a living connection to reciprocal relationships that exist without needing any specific place or time.
K. 
I didn’t realise the birdlings had a roost! I love that image of the lost and found of the mind a vast space without an index, tangled with myth.
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The trees are a perfect home.
No index in my mind, that’s for sure.
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It makes life so much more interesting when you never know quite where you are.
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I, too, love the lost and found of the mind….so cool. Love your photos, too, and that the trees move with you……….I get attached to my balcony garden every spring and summer – plants are entities we have relationships with. Love this poem!
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Thanks Sherry. We do. It’s been a long relationship…
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You are so creative! I love your entanglement of myth and memory. And your trees!
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Thanks Sarah. I am lucky to have them as a constant in my life.
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How wonderful that you take your trees with you, Kerfe, and that you’ve had your lemon tree from seeds! I wouldn’t be able to move the trees from our garden, they are firmly rooted in the ground. Like yours, they provide companionship. I enjoyed the images that illustrate your poem, which is, like trees, quirky in form and shape. I love the way you describe them as ‘shimmering, / unfocused… breaking into bits of / color, sprinkled light’ – I can see that in the trees in our garden. I also love the phrase ‘the lost and found of the mind’ – maybe that’s where our spirits go when we die, into trees.
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Thanks Kim. We planted lots of things when my daughter was young and the two trees have endured, even through all the moves. I would not mind my spirit becoming part of a tree at all. I once lived in a place with a Rose of Sharon tree in the back, and it definitely provided both spirit and companionship.
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Deep and a unique, great way of maintaining connection to loved ones
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Thanks Jude. We need those connections.
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A wonderful, thought-provoking piece! Beautiful images too 🤩
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Thanks Ingrid. It’s hard to take bad photos of plants!
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I love the idea of transporting nature spirits from place to place within a city. Your poem really captures the way nature can still permeate our lives even in the most itinerate urban settings.
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There’s plenty of nature in cities. Most people don’t pay much attention to it. But then, in my experience, they don’t pay much attention to it no matter where they are.
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That’s for sure!
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I love this portable altar to the spirits of place … you’ve cared for it and watered it with your heart and art. What a narrative of shimmering (great word) tangled abundance you have here. Well done. – Brendan
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Thanks Brendan.
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