To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul. It is one of the hardest to define.~Simone Weil
Trees
what’s it like to stand there for so long
that you forget where you are
and know nothing but that
you’ve never been
anywhere else
but right there
knowing nothing at all
about what it’s like
to be yanked up by the hair
and set down where you
don’t want to be
but have no say
in the matter
of course it does happen to you
from time to time when
the wind catches you
in its embrace and
topples you to the ground
in a crazy dance
or someone with a saw comes along
thinking they know better
and then you find out
that there’s no going back
that rootless is your
new state
if you’re even
still standing
at all
it’s said that assumptions are dangerous
especially if they have to do
with trees and feeling rooted
because you know
and always have
that it’s just an illusion as
much as it is
when we say
we can
go home again
when there really is no such place
and never was.
Writing Out Loud 