Daughters of the Forest

Did you ever know
We are all on life support?
Oh, I don’t mean respirators,
Tubes and hospital things.
I mean things like honey bees and trees,
Wind and water, sun and soil,
Farmers and gardeners, compost and creatures,
Darkness and light.

Saint Mother Theodore
Sisters Basilide, St. Vincent Ferrer,
Mary Xavier, St. Ligouri and Olympiade,
In a most intimate way you knew
These Woods, this land,
Its seasonal struggles and abundant gifts.
Your weary bodies knew
How essential to your survival
Was living in communion with this land.

May we never forget why you came.
May we reverence with profound gratitude
This Woodland forest
That fed and sheltered you,
Warmed you in winter’s cold and
Sustained your spirits with its beauty
A humble partner in the mission of Providence.

Teach us, our founding Sisters,
How urgently the signs of our time
On planet Earth, call us to be
Daughters of the Forest

(August 2010)