An aspen tree whispered to me.
Its voice drew my attention away
from its shimmering leaves.
In a whisper, as loud as it could speak,
it recited Whitman’s Song Of Myself
directly to my heart.
And in that instant all my atoms
and all the aspens’ atoms
belonged to each other.
The glade blurred and definition dropped away.
There I was under the bark, down
in the roots and released from the highest leaves.
There was no light or darkness.
The connection neither thinned or thickened.
Only the luscious sweet exchange.
And what I thought was one aspen whispering
was the entire grove in unison
and I knew for certain there was no ceasing after death.
copyright © 2020 Kenneth P. Gurney
Umflop 