Silent Presence

written by Toyoyo

Nature’s workings are always held in harmony.

Life and death circle endlessly, adapting to the shifting world.

Each being lives by instinct, yet they move in subtle coordination, upholding one another’s existence.

Even when that balance is inconvenient — or even cruel — to humans, to nature it means nothing at all.

And trees, within that harmony,

live fiercely, flexibly, wildly, entirely by instinct.

—

Born on Earth, this living planet,

I am never permitted to speak with them — those who were born on the same planet.

How could I ever talk with them?

I want to know the world they have seen, to know who they are.

What voices do they have?

How would they speak?

— I long to hear their voices.

They are always beside me, yet I am always alone.

And still, alongside that loneliness,

there is a comfort in being wrapped in their silent presence — a feeling too subtle for words.

—

They accept everything.

They hold no prejudice.

They don’t judge.

They never force their will upon another.

They don’t reject.

In their generosity,

in their authentic selves,

I feel beauty and warmth.

Perhaps this is the true nature

of their silent presence.

The sorrow of not being allowed to speak with them never disappears.

I will never fully understand them.

But the simple joy of existing side by side fills my whole body.

Their strength and graceful expansiveness ignite my curiosity.

And the ease of being unconditionally received envelops me entirely.

When I am near them,

loneliness, peace, curiosity, joy, awe — every emotion inside me seems to breathe at once.

It is a state where control slips away, even to the point of confusion.

But yes — perhaps it is simply the most natural state of all.

—


Trees do not lie.
They live in quiet honesty.

Before that honesty,who could hide?

When I stand before them,
I feel gently stripped of all I carry.

Their presence is great.
And as I face them,my heart fills with reverenceand with love.

At the same time, a wish stirs in me—to live as they do:
strong, supple,sometimes fierce,and true to nature.

—

They don’t move

(at least not on the scale of our time).

They don’t speak

(at least not in the language we use).

Yet they enter the deepest room of my heart, and I feel them speaking to my core.

It seems something within me had been sleeping.

Instinct awakens.

To their silent presence,

I offer the same in silence.