On Joy and Summer Trees

Are there memories whose goodness has surprised you?

Though not a poet, I took a workshop earlier this year which involved writing a poem that explored the divine through joy. Inspired by the vividness of Li-Young Lee’s sense-awakening poem “From Blossoms”, I tried writing about a kind of remembering moment that has taken me by surprise, again and again, over the years. It’s a moment that has taken me to so many times and places, reminding me of how much larger life is than any one day or person alone. I call this poem “Among the Trees” (below).

Among the Trees

Among the trees comes
this musty smell of earth
drawn up into the air, 
pungent as I step out 
into the humid breath of morning.

From bark, from dirt and damp, 
comes this scent I know so well, 
a first-coffee time of day breath 
bringing back so many memories 
with the coming of so many summers.

To breathe in what we are – to hold deep
in my chest these smiles and our laughter, 
the girl at camp waking with new friends, 
now this woman with so many reasons 
to meet early for coffee; we step out
together into days thick with possibility.

Some moments we know nothing 
is lost; among leaves 
and loves, waking souls 
and senses, in this 
communion among the
coming-alive-again trees.

– Callie J. Smith