summer solstice tree meditation

the great old oak tree will gather me in
when earth shifts its tilt to gathering night
and three hundred spiraling circles spin

I call to the woman and child I’ve been
the child at play, the mother full of might
the great old oak tree will gather us in

the deep noon silence stills the human din
all that I am floats to the tree’s great height
and three hundred spiraling circles spin

drawn to the core by the deep-rooted yin
I yield my eyes to arboreal sight
the great old oak tree has gathered me in

see the acorn, the whole tree held within
falling to earth through ancient autumn light
till three hundred spiraling circles spin

when waxing light ends, waning must begin
fathoms underground the first root holds tight
to my core I’ve gathered my old selves in
and numberless spiraling circles spin

The author of nine works of fiction and four collections of poems, Elizabeth Cunningham is best known for The Maeve Chronicles, a series of award-winning novels featuring a feisty Celtic Magdalen. She writes regularly for Feminism and Religion’s blogsite and is a fellow emeritus of Black Earth Institute. She lives in New York State’s Hudson Valley.