tREE AND ME

I
Miners in the dark
    unearthing gifts to root a king.

Trunk furrowed hard to shield,
    channeling the syrup of life.

Skywarding branches
    webbing the heavens for food
    as birds perch and nest.

Leaves of green
    glancing at the sun
    and laughing in the wind.

Fruit nourishing the needy with food and wonder.

Taking and giving,
    a monarch breathes and bows 
    to the flow of life.

II
Deep secrets I alone know and don't know
    that poison and nourish.

A face creased to please and be loved,
    reflecting desire to be all things,
    powerful as God,

Arms reach out to give and embrace,
    till hands fold in silent wonder of life,
    beauty's fruit of two becoming one.

Taking and giving,
    the head bows to the heart, and heart to all else.

III
Each part hides the tree,
    as each part of me.

Every particle is God incarnate,
    Infinite means in finite.

The piece interlocked
    sees not the whole,
    nor does it grasp its own extension.

Limitation unlimits God;
    immersion as flower unbinds the whole.

All power returns by realizing myself,
    be still and know I'm God as me

God is simple ABC,
   All Being Combined.

                                                      -Thomas D. Stanks, Book of 
                                                        Mystical Poetry, Volume 2, 1996