As Below, So Above Barbara Sanders

These underpinnings, these feelings, Thoughts, fantasies and dreams Rooted in the earth and in our bodies Let's explore and understand My heaven may be my hell, just brighter And more forgiving: lustrous leaves, Fragrant flowers and fabulous fruit Grounded by my roots and their health My dark shadows lend their texture To every moment of my waking hours Diving into the deep, moist soil of my soul My tap root strong and solid full of Colorful threads, winding tight like a baseball Pushing through the soil like a carrot's plunge To the core of my being, to the earth Filaments running off the tap root Enjoying their own geographical adventure Searching for minerals and water, other beings, Sources that will be scooped up and into This entire plant and soul Roots move water and food, High up into my plant Through the trunk, the stem, upwards Into my tree of life. I need these roots To function and sometimes fear root rot Or worse, to be root bound Roots can be torn apart By the upper world, the harsh Aggressiveness of building homes Water pipes, sewers and concrete Protecting my roots, I hold the dirt And my plant sturdy but cannot know When a tragedy might occur, like a Tornado, a hurricane, or a storm Or just an injury for only one Uprooting my plant and my roots Forcing me to fall up above the earthen Floor, I need help, someone or something to Replant and repair my roots, to keep me alive Once restored and healed by human And divine assistance New and tender shoots sidle Out from my fibrous filaments Connecting to other plants and trees To other people’s roots down below We nourish each other underground (And sometimes, above ground) Below visual view of our human plantings Connections like secretive holding hands while Kneeling on a church choir pew as a teen

Both erotic and spreading, we each Wrap ourselves around other roots Engaging, sometimes endangering and Sometimes nourishing all of our roots, plants We cannot survive or thrive Without these other beings, who whirl Around our succulent growths Bringing us food and drink As we do them in our attachment Our interrelatedness Why, we even need worms in our lives To keep the soil aerated for our best growth When thirsty and weak or all alone In this community underneath this planet's Ground, we commune and communicate We share our resources Gaining from this interconnection Developing this hallowed, healthy community And when we people and other living beings Transition to another Space or time, we may be buried or deteriorate Underground or our ashes sprinkled Above the ground, Mother Nature's Nest and womb. As below, so above How do we tend to our roots And also help others grow?