The Yew Tree’s Embrace

You must choose to listen

The yew tree pulled me in

‘Stay’

Under the dome of green leaves

Listen

Deep down

Amidst all the noise

Hear what comes from within

You must choose to listen

You must choose to write with the echo

You must choose

Even though you’re not sure you’re listening

Inaudible, but felt in the veins

Silent, but reverberating through the body

Tenuous

Imperceptible

Untranslatable

Echo of other cycles and other ways of being

Deep and wise

It knows what you carry

It touches the dense weight

Shiver

‘I am here,’ it says

‘I know what you carry’

‘I’ll shout until you hear me’

‘Even if you don’t understand’

Even if it’s impossible to translate

The language of the yew tree is ancient

And doesn’t fit in the now

Language of sap and poison

Of deep water

Language that knows mourning and loss

Language that knows time moves in circles

The yew tree made me sit here

And here I sat

I would rather not be anywhere else

Even without being sure that I’m able to listen.