Well Watered

a poem about wild ideas

September 22. Fall Equinox. Some of the leaves are starting to lighten in color.

Last Wednesday in anticipation of the Fall Equinox (in the northern hemisphere), I shared a poem about “what it means to be a tree planted by a steam of living water.” I also shared about a tree that has caught my attention and that I am journeying with through this season.

With the tree for an Equinox rain.

I spent time with the tree on Sunday, just before the Equinox sunset. As I arrived the weather changed quickly. Clouds rolled in. The wind picked up. The temperature dropped. The rains came. And I sat with the tree experiencing every moment. Strangely feeling a sense of balance I hadn’t in quite some time.

Have you found a tree calling your name? If not, what stops you from searching?What else is it saying? Are there fears or wonders that keep you from listening?

Two of last year’s wild ideas were publishing “Unraveling” and debuting the “New Laces in Old Shoes” Poetry Show. Wild ideas can come true.

This week I share a poem written last fall. Inspired by birch trees. Inspiring gratitude and wild ideas. Read and listen below.

Well Watered
©Rebecca Wilson, 2023

there’s nothing like well water
and birch tree bark to stir up old memories
turning on the faucet to the smell of rotten eggs
and brushing your teeth to the taste of sandbox dirt
giggling the whole time
knowing grandpa was waiting in the knotty pine hallway
with a handful of sugary treats before bed

just outside the side door
a large yard filled with trees
pines and oaks and white birches
we called them paper trees

grandma said we couldn’t peel the paper from the trunk
because that would hurt the tree
but if the paper was on the ground
we could take it
if we did something good with it
and we did or we tried

I loved to write on it
notes to myself
to others
to nature
I wrote a thank you note to the tree for sharing its paper
and placed it down beside it when we left
and a note to the deer
and to the skunk that sprayed our dog
another time when life was really hard
I wrote a bible verse on the paper
and kept it in my sock drawer
hoping it would remind me I didn’t really want to die
I just didn’t want to be hurt anymore
I had this wild idea that maybe I could write a whole book on birch tree paper
and become rich and famous

I forgot about that until this morning
when I stood at the sink in a small rented cabin
washing my drinking glass with well water
the sulfur smell swirling in my nostrils
looking out the window
a skinny birch tree at the edge of the driveway
its paper peeling and piles of it on the ground

I put on my crocs and went to gather a piece or two
and realized there were actually four of these inviting trees
calling my name and inspiring me

now I brush my teeth
awash with the memories of well water
the people and places that have loved me
held me
made safe space for me
that watered me well
that gave me sweet treats before bed
and read to me as I fell asleep
filling me with a desire to shape them into story
with a rusty metallic taste in my mouth
I sit down to create
a new list of wild ideas

What wild ideas are you holding? What’s the first step in bringing them to life? May your journey be well watered by these words!

Well Watered and Water-fully Yours,
Rebecca & 10 Camels