What if the pine trees

standing tall on your favorite trail

tops gently swaying

from the breeze they are protecting 

you from

were also there to bear witness to

the tears you quietly let slide into their soil?

 

If they heard your cries

on those difficult days

and sang together

an offering of solace.

like I believe

they did

the time I moved 2000 miles

away and felt so alone

longing for all the things I had

left behind.

 

Or when Jamie died

and only one friend allowed

the world to stop for a moment

so I could scream into the darkness

deep into the horrible void death leaves behind.

scream my grief 

and my terror

now aware that one day

it would be my turn

to leave.

 

There was a special rock

on a special trail

where I would sit in silence warming

my face in the sun

while my shoulders sagged

and I longed for a friend to hold me.

I called it my crying rock.

 

In those moments

I often felt

an embrace from something that

cannot hug

and I thought it might be the forest.

As if the trees above saw my pain

and sang softly in my ear.

I couldn’t understand what they

were saying

but I knew 

I felt 

on some level

a level not of this universe

that they were offering 

comfort 

I only had 

to listen.

 

©Robin E. Salcido