Prayer to a Spruce Forest

teach me how

first branches

underneath

die in shade to raise

the green flourish

of this year's

growth cresting

ever upward

to the sun

how roots

stretch full across

and slow

hurried steps

through the forest

how soft wood

of the understory

falls underfoot

with lichens

already about

their quiet work

how torrents

of rain and

fierce ocean

winds toss and

rearrange

and how

so soon

after each

great storm

no one

remembers

the contours of

your last canopy

your soft fragrance

rustling boughs

whisper how you're born

from the cone

forever bound

and how

through the bounty

of the world

the many gifts

growing side by side

you embed

in a singular

faith in what

you're here

to be