Futures Spun on the Barren Earth

I am in between lives at the moment. As are the chickadees, and the maple trees in their way. As food grows more plentiful the chickadees have stopped flocking, and returned to somewhat more solitary lives. Maple sap, the sweet elixir of the Northwoods, flows from roots to branches. I love the process of gathering and turning it to syrup. The walk from tree to tree and back to the central fire. Each tree I visit today I see as a different future. A different life I can possibly lead. Unresolved futures. The central fire though has not shifted from its spot in a long while.

Walking between lives
is like being a melting glacier
I uncover new beauty with each retreat
And mourn the loss of myself
Drop by drop
Each piece of myself is a flood in Miami
And a drought in Phoenix
A degree warmer and I vanish
Along with the communities within
ideas and dreams and timeless records
down to the scraping of soil from the rock
Love lost to 400 parts per million of CO2
As we walk the chasm together
taking one step after another 
to a future spun on the barren Earth.

Recently I’ve spent some time reminding myself that we can each craft a mission for ourselves in life. Mine is to help myself and others create relationship with the natural world through how direct interactions with Gaia, specifically within the Lake Superior watershed. This is my central fire, through which I refine those many futures down to life lived well. Lately I have little faith in myself that I can reach that goal, but still I try. What is your mission statement? How does it do good for your Place in this era of The Great Turning?