When the Wind Says Dance

tree song, by Amanda Cooke

mother maple, Oregon

Some say there is no other way, 

that we must pick a side.

Before I knew myself as a tree, 

I might have believed them.

Now I know if that were really true, 

we may as well already be dead.


Now I have ears to the ground and stars, 

I hear those calling for the other way. 


They say I am no stranger to ruin

or being pulled apart by panic. 

I know how to stand up,

make poison into blessing, 

to break in two and survive, 

I know how to cling to life

with a heart laid bare.

I know the depths of my courage, 

the depths of my courage.


I hold time and seeds of a new world, 

I know what is lost when we forget.

We belong to each other. 

I cannot be desensitized,

only expand in widening circles, 

resuscitate and be shelter,

bear witness and give thanks,

say yes when the wind says dance. 


I hold time and seeds of a new world, 

I know what is lost when we forget.

We belong to each other. 

I will not be desensitized, 

only explained in widening circles,

resuscitate and be shelter,

bear witness and give thanks,

say yes when the wind says dance. 


Say yes when the wind says dance. 

Say yes when the wind says dance. 

Say yes when the wind says dance. 

Say yes when the wind says dance. 

-

Amanda Cooke

, author of Reunion Song - poems for reconnection and remembering yourself home. NOW AVAILABLE in paperback worldwide. I have a gorgeous, limited edition hardback on my bed stand, her mystical truths my new evening ritual of pausing, reflecting, returning.