
Sharon Lopez Mooney
Poet & Interfaith Chaplain

it's time to let go, mother tree
mother tree, i am cutting the roots that bind us
the sun has toughened my skin
it sings against my stomach as i raise the axe
telling me i am no longer you, the tree
i have become other needing different ground,
the wind howls that i am not
flesh of your flesh sap of your sap any longer
your roots are old and twisted in finding moisture
there will be relief as i separate us
i will no longer diminish your life’s food
i will plant this womon in new earth
rich enough to grow my own roots deep
becoming old and strong as you did
you are magnificent
and we are of different wood
Sharon Lopez Mooney, “it’ time to let go, mother tree”, in Writing In A Woman's Voice, ed. Beate Sigriddaughter, Silver City, July 13, 2021, New Mexico, https://writinginawomansvoice.blogspot.com/