My blood
Is calling to you
Through
All the chaos
And frightening sound
Of darkness
Giving birth
To love.
© Salem Islas-Madlo 2016
birth
Stay the Course
From its lofty position above the tops of most other trees, the pine reminded ancient peoples of the importance of taking the overview, encouraging objectivity and farsightedness. We are advised to cleanse ourselves of negativity, neither dwelling on mistakes nor apportioning blame. Pine is a symbol of the elevated mind and the birth of the spiritual warrior. ~Jane Gifford, The Wisdom of Trees
In hushed tones
She whispers,
The Goddess
Of the forest,
‘Stay the course,
It is time
To be
Your own
Master
Amidst the chaos
Cleansing
Your soul
In the
Great stillness
Of
Winter
Solstice
Resting in
The sacred
Heartbeat
Of the forest
Embracing
The healing presence
Of inner light
And
Peace.
© Salem Islas-Madlo 2015
*this post was inspired by the following documentary:
https://www.facebook.com/forestethics/videos/10153503154834221/?theater
Becoming Rain
the tears
i shed
yesterday
have become
rain
“In one of my former lives I was a cloud. The cloud had a nice time in the sky, travelling around and looking down. A cloud is sometimes transformed into rain, and when the rain comes, the cloud isn’t scared to death. The cloud knows that the rain is something very exciting too. So, instead of crying, the cloud begins to sing and becomes the rain falling on fields and into the rivers.”
“If we look deeply we see that the nature of a cloud is also the nature of no birth: The cloud does not come from nothing. It has come from the water in the river and ocean. It has come from the heat of the sunshine. You know that the birth of a cloud is a poetic image. The cloud is simply a new manifestation. Before being a cloud, the cloud has been many other things. Our true nature is the nature of no birth and no death. Birth and death are notions that cannot be applied to reality, because there is nothing that can be born from nothing, and there is nothing that can become nothing at all. The meditation practice of looking deeply will bring about insight. It will dissipate our fear and our despair.”
-Thich Nhat Hahn
*art by Omer Agam (digital artist and graphic designer)
Deep Souldiving 
