You and I

You are the mountains of the world
    I am the waters
I am born on your slopes
   as you are born in my depths

You open to me
   I permeate you
     in a million streams
       above ground
         and below
     at times washing back quickly
       to the source of my strength
   other times,
spending millennia
dripping from a pool of rain
down through the very
stone foundations
of your strength

washing up on your shores
   I bring life to you
and parts of you go with me
     mixed and flowing
       in my tides and currents
         eventually deposited
            in my depths
        near my heart
where newborn mountains
    are conceived
where volcanic convulsions
and tectonic shifts
                       thrust you up
      from my depths
into the fire-showered
ash-filled sky
       that is washed
                   eventually
          in my cleansing rain

You are the rich earth
    I, the forests
I am born in your topsoil
    as you are born in my depths
I clothe your slopes and valleys
       You cradle and rock me
    holding me
as the sun, sky, and rain
   compose the heartsongs of life

we open to each other
      my roots moving slowly
    caressingly
       in your depths
          absorbing your mineral treasures
             and carrying them up
     to shine in the sun

those who do not know us well
      believe it easy to distinguish
   mountain from ocean
      earth from forest
but you flow in me
       as I flow in you
           providing sustenance
               habitats
             ecologies
      bringing life and love
           to our mother
                           earth

kasha and jim