To All Who Surround Me
Watching the yellow tree lean
toward the green tree next to it
I jerk to a stop.
My grandmother almost falls.
“Sh, sh, sh" she coos.
"Careful with your eyes.
See with your nose and feet,
Your ears and skin.”
“I’m scared," I cry.
"It’s too much.
So much color and sound,
It’s coming too fast.”
“Sit down now.
Silence, hold your palms out.
Take it all in.
Wait for a message.”
Long time ago
I remember this
When too much was new
Too much came at me.
Some nights,
The fears rush in
I sit on the floor
My palms lifting up.
It never fails
I sit and wait
Silent and still.
Letting it in.
My tears fall
A prayer in itself
Saying "thank you"
To all who surround me.
All is sacred.
All our relatives.
All with a message.
All in beauty.
Image above (and on front-page mastheads): "Mountains To Climb" by Sherry Byrd.Words above: Praying in Silence, by Katy Yazee (April 2012) a member of Spirit Journey Youth: an Episcopal Native American youth group in Northern Arizona. You can see some videos from Spirit Journey Youth here.
