I’M ONLY SLEEPING

The Sicilian Storyteller

Where am I? What’s happening? I thought I heard screams in the night. Could I have been dreaming?

I’m supposed to be sleeping, waiting for the Spring, but I’m not and it’s too soon to be feeling so warm. My lower extremities are aching as though someone as been tugging on them, but I’m not in pain. Some of my friends have suffered excruciating agony. One day we were together and the next day they were gone; I never saw them again.

My limbs feel a little heavy; am I carrying objects in my outstretched arms? There’s a slight pressure on my head – not terribly heavy but a feeling I am unaccustomed to, like a crown. I can hear faint voices now. It’s hard to make out full sentences but the words sound like “looks beautiful” and “brilliant idea”. What does it all mean? What is a brilliant idea?

I have no clue how much time has passed; I think only a week or so but I have lost all track of time and I’m very tired. I need to sleep.

What is going on now? It feels like I’m being lifted and carried away; I’m afraid. What’s happening to me? I feel like some pressure is being taken off me and I’m being lowered into a hole. I can sense something familiar, something soothing covering my base. I can smell the crisp outdoors and I detect the fragrance of the earth, of fresh soil.

I’m beginning to notice a chill surrounding me; it’s a refreshing and safe feeling and the strange uncomfortable warming sensation is passing. My lower limbs feel like they are bound but I am safe and comfortable – like being enveloped in a soothing blanket of snow. I feel protected, as though in a cocoon.

Thank you for giving me a chance to live by not taking an ax to me. Thank you for digging me out of the ground and keeping me alive. You have given me the chance to rest now and to grow strong under your protective care until winter arrives once again.

It was a joy spending Christmas with you!

I’m not dead; I’m only sleeping.

One of the saddest things is seeing all the dead and forgotten Christmas trees discarded after the season.
Next time you go looking for a Christmas tree, consider buying one with its root ball intact;
you can replant it in your yard
or place it in a pot.
It gave you so much joy
during the holidays;
why not give it a chance to live!

NAR © 2021

17 thoughts on “I’M ONLY SLEEPING”

    1. I have no doubt!

      ‘Trees’

      I think that I shall never see
      A poem as lovely as a tree.
      A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
      Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
      A tree that looks at God all day,
      And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
      A tree that may in Summer wear
      A nest of robins in her hair;
      Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
      Who intimately lives with rain.
      Poems are made by fools like me,
      But only God can make a tree.

      Joyce Kilmer

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      Reply

  2. Brilliant Nancy,
    It seems that we are peer tree lovers.
    Some bird most likely transported the fruit of a neighbor’s ornamental cherry tree into our yard from where they sprouted. I rescued both of them and gave them a permanent place along our fence line in the backyard. It’s gratifying watching them thrive now.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. A first person POV extravaganza !

    Couldn’t agree more with your post scriptum.
    And for those who believe trees are just a piece of wood:
    “Trees share water and nutrients through the networks, and also use them to communicate. They send distress signals about drought and disease, for example, or insect attacks, and other trees alter their behavior when they receive these messages. Scientists call these mycorrhizal networks.”

    🌲🌳

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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