Take off your shoes

Nayla Azmi playing in a waterfall.   Sumatra, Indonesia

Take off your shoes Feel the grass between your toes.
Splash in the water.
Stand on the earth,
grounded and alive.

Feel her groaning and growing beneath your feet—
groaning from the weight of many boots,
growing and embracing those who tread lightly.

She is a daughter, a sister, a mother.
She is me. She is you. I am her.

What does it feel like to stand in her presence?
To run barefoot in her fields?

Unbind your soul; set it free.
The soft breeze, the calm vulnerability, the grounding strength—
she rides the winds of peace and presence.

Stand on the earth.
Listen to her whispering voice among the trees.