Festival of Trees - A Poem for Imbolc and the Brigid Poety Slam

In honor of Brigid, Goddess of Poetry and Healing, this year my contribution is a poem written Rabbi Jill Hammer (1).

Festival of Trees

When we went to the clearing to visit the trees,
the great trees of the clearing,
mother, grandmother, and daughter,
sister, and faithful gatekeeper,
we blessed them to grow upward,
to spread the wealth of earth into the air
as a fan scatters a breeze across the face.
But when we came to the wise crone,
the old dead tree wrapped in vines,
escorted by milkweed and tall grass,
her we blessed to grow downward
to pour her radiance back into the soil
so that all would grow from her body.
That day in the snow she had the face of an owl,
beak and hooded eyes.
Her call could not be heard.
It was beneath us, under the ground.

Imbolc Poems by Jill Hammer
Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion - Volume 22, Number 1, Spring 2006, pp. 75-82

Posted on calendar Imbolc, for the 4th Annual Brigid Poetry Slam

Blessed Imbolc to you and yours,

Sia

Related Articles:

The Blessings of Brighid

Hacate mentioned this post and I enjoyed it very much as it sums up so much of the beauty of this Goddess and the women who never forgot her. I left this note at Owl's Daughter's blog, and I'll share it with you, as well:

Today, dog and I go to our favorite park, bags in hand, to walk and clean up any litter we find. This is a small, quiet park, little known and not much cared for except by the people who live here, and the odd tourist, junkie or hooker who leave their trash. They defile it, and we make it sacred again so that others can walk among the trees.

Endnotes:

Jill Hammer, PhD, is an author, educator, midrashist, myth-weaver, and ritualist. She is the director of Tel Shemesh, a website and community celebrating and creating Jewish earth-based traditions, and the co-founder of Kohenet: The Hebrew Priestess Institute.

Photo: Spotted Owls in Old Growth Forest