This page features short pieces of writing (fiction
or nonfiction) from writers who have attended my workshops or viewed my
web site. Submissions may be fiction or nonfiction, 700 words maximum,
and should be sent to gail@creativejourneys.net
for possible inclusion on web site. Writers should submit name,
address, phone number and word count with submission. No fee is paid;
however, if selected, story will run on my web site in this section.
THE
DEAD WOMAN TREE IN THE FOREST
by Ellen Hamill
Friday Harbor, Washington
September, 2005
This
tree, this dead woman, will enfold you in ALL her arms: arms of mercy,
arms of justice, wisdom. Her eyes behold me. The eyes are blank, but
she sees. She sees in me my potential, and she says, ‘Express
it!’ ‘Manifest MY destiny in YOUR SELF.’
Maybe she is meant to be my own statue of liberty, the spirit that
frees me.
And there, a few feet away, is the ‘Mr.’ tree:
tall, solid, straight, dark, strong, unyielding.
What unites these two? The blackberry, grasses, thistle, the rich loam
of the forest floor, connect these two, draw them toward each other as
in days of old.
It is no wonder that he stands so somber, sober, apart and aloof. He
thinks his woman has left him. He is bereft. He doesn’t
celebrate her nearness, her upright and reaching presence. He
can’t let down his guard, give in to his love for her, emit
his silent cry for her; he stands mute.
I feel the heaviness of his sorrow. And I see her reaching comfort to
him, unheeded. Captured in time, these two, silent influence on us who
pass by.
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