Suprasize me…

Walking with Sengzhao,

fifteen centuries after his death,

through the alpine rhododendron,

larch and whitebark in the Hozameen—

a lovely range of mountains,

not entirely scalped by logging,

bisected by the line between British Columbia and the state of Washington—

this is what I heard:

The feet are the link

between earth and the body. Begin there.

The lungs are the link between body and air.

The hands, the uprooted feet, are the means

of our shaping and grasping. Clasp them.

The eyes are the hands of the head;

its feet the ears.

At least that is as close as I could make it out…

— in Everywhere Being is Dancing by Robert Bringhurst

Being a woman and all,

it sure makes me wonder,

when I hear the voices,

of all of those old hockey players,

in my house…

I feel the pain of their injuries,

the thrill of their winnings,

and the longing when the end of the season,

draws near…

There is really nothing in my history,

that I know of,

which has prepared me for this work,

in my body…

But I’m up for each challenge,

as it comes my way,

and fully willing to do whatever needs to be done,

to create movement…

This morning I woke up from a dream,

where I was searching,

for just the right flavour,

of ice cream,

in the Great Canadian Superstore…

The freezer section was a jumble,

but I knew what I wanted,

and what my children,

would be happy to know I brought home,

just for them…

So I got down on my knees,

and made the necessary efforts…

Finally,

at the very back,

hidden under everything,

I got my hands on what I’d been looking for,

and put in in my basket…

A little girl came walking down the aisle,

pulled me down to her level,

and crawled up onto my lap…

I could feel that I knew her…

We hugged,

and kissed each others cheeks,

in greeting…

Her adopted mother stood beside us watching,

as the little girl asked me,

Do you have a message,

for me,

from my birth mother???

her face all shiny,

with hope…

I said,

Yes I do…

She’s saying that she never wanted to leave you,

but she didn’t have a choice…

She has never stopped missing you,

or loving you…

And even though she isn’t with you,

right now,

she wants you to know that you can connect to her from wherever you are,

whenever you need to…

I put my hand over her little chest…

I asked her,

Can you feel her???

She sat quietly with her little eyes closed,

while I held her brown cheeks in my hands,

and we waited,

together…

I saw a small smile start to creep into the corners of her mouth…

Then her eyes opened,

and looked right into mine,

and I saw that tree,

stripped bare to the bark,

all covered up,

with butterflies…

She whispered,

Thank you…

I said,

And thank you…

You need to know that you can do this on your own,

any time you want…

And no matter what,

because people will try,

with all of their might,

to snuff it out,

don’t ever forget

that this feeling,

is yours,

by right…