Redwoods and Forgiveness

When a redwood senses it's going to die, or is struck by lightning or fire, it sends up shoots off its roots. And because its roots radiate out in a circle,  the next generation stands  surrounding the wise ancestor's stump.

Two weekends ago, when I went with a group to Roberts Regional Park which is populated mainly by redwoods I observed many circles of trees but didn't know the cause.  It wasn't until this past weekend, at a camp outside Occidental, that I understood the phenomenon of why the Sequoias often stand in circles.

Survival looks like respectful honoring in the Redwood family.

What does survival look like in the human family? Not quite so stoic and regal, eh? More like dog-eat-dog?

I wonder how we might reinstate the sense of wonder and honoring?

Dreaming a poem, waking to write it, this weird start of gratitude for all that befell me as a kid popped out...


In the dream I scraped some semen off the walls that know

What happened in that bedroom in my childhood long ago

I put it deep inside me just to see what it would grow

DNA of my warped daddy mixing with my own


And in the dream I noticed the results were much the same

That I grew up surprisingly, I'm healed, no longer lame

The pain of early childhood with its awful name

Don't wish incest on anyone the monster must be tamed


Still there are some upsides I must bow down in awe

Sure Dad's own dark suffering, unhealed, left us raw

But his art and creativity, aliveness to the core...

Worth a celebration and honoring... what's more

Profound the gifts he gave us, the wisdom for to see

When others hurt I know it, 'specially if they hurt like me



The gift to know that addicts must never be left in charge 

Of kids - especially young ones - but even when they're large

For addicts act to sooth their pain that's way down deep inside

Leaving all in ruins; beloved friends and family all in for a wild ride



Can we stand in wonder, in witness of this stump

That gave us life and honor good as we stand all in a clump?

Supporting one another, making vows to pass on the good

Respecting others' boundaries the lesson now understood