We write back and forth
with greetings of friendship
unsure our bonding
while longing for one.

Our smile is broad
upon receiving a letter
but wait we will
till our eyes spy the other.

We melt into our ages
our flesh altering with time
doing the predictable everyday
till a face stands at our door.

A stranger-friend rings from the porch
awaiting a reply, an opened door
unsure our bonding
while longing for one.

So how shall I smile
unsure of our bonding
peering through that face
since the longing is gone?

how i wish

how i wish the tree was your friend 

your companion-mother 

in whose lap you'd rest 

to dream and talk 

to suck and sulk 

to grow into yourself 

and find your gift 

and be affirmed when it speaks with you

 and know that God loves you there

and here

 and ev'ry place you'll be 

cause God loves trees 

and ev'ry child out there 

ev'ry you 

where'er you'll be 

who e'er you art

*"Unveil our eyes, give us confidence, do not let us be ashamed or embarrassed, do not let us despise ourselves.'[old Christian prayer]  The opening of our eyes should go with a more total acceptance of God's world, even as it is now, still incomplete, still in the making; and part of that acceptance is the acceptance of ourselves in our totality.  Nothing less that this totality can sustain the integrity which should ultimately be ours.

-Simon Tugwell