tangle’s gift

It’s been a while since I posted … that’s seasons for you! Anyway, the holiday season has given me time to return to my nature solos.

One of my nature solos in December took me into a ‘scruffy’ wild area beyond the carefully tended lawns and beds of Kirstenbosch Gardens. Despite my initial misgivings, a gift awaited me. A tiny Cape Batis bird (one of my favourite local species) hopped onto the branch in front of me as I rested against the trunk of a small tree.

It made me wonder about the gifts we might find (in ourselves and one another) if we are willing to observe, without resistance or judgment, that which is messy and untended in ourselves.

tangle’s gift

Drawn to this tangle of life and death
of fallen branches and finished ferns,
my tidy mind strives to resist
the call to rest beyond manicured lawns.

Random saplings and crackling leaves
untended and wild, frequented by few.
As senses awake, embracing what is,
a curious batis graces my view.