Sojourn

Photo by Matthieu Lemarchal on Unsplash

I am and am not Presbyterian, Unitarian, Quaker . . .

I carry my tent and my cookstove
my bedding and rain gear
from place to beautiful
(or ravaged)
place.

Sometimes the view
calls me to
pause,
dwell
for a time.

Other times
it is a Source
clear water
berry bushes
good forage
watercress
tasty fish
or soft leaves to
burrow in.

Or pure fecundity.
Green-ness
         that whelms the eyes
Petrichor
         that saturates lungs
         with earthly
Essence.

And sometimes
It is a place to lay my
burden down,
unpack what I have found
along the way,
and sort it through.

Set aside
what is too unwieldy.

But usually
it is the Light
falling on
and cast through
a certain clearing,

the Shelter
offered by some
Original Tree
that arrests me in my
traces.

Tammy Forner

Tammy Forner is a member of Middletown (Conn.) Worship Group (New England Yearly Meeting) and a student at Earlham School of Religion. Her Viewpoint article “Forgiveness, Trust, and Safety” was published in the March 2023 issue of Friends Journal. Her writing has been published in Spirituality & Health and Journal of the American Society for Testing and Materials.

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