June 2021
Kim Klugh
kim.klugh@gmail.com
Bio Note: I've leaned heavily on the sustaining power of nature and poetry throughout the pandemic, and I find my own writing reflects that practice.

On the Japanese Tradition of Shinrin-yoku or Forest Bathing

The trail leads to a cathedral 
where streams of sunlight 
dapple the green canopy above
 
I step from one world into another
from the harried to the hushed
where I share breath and lush space 
 
with trees that speak in silence  
where quiet is broken only 
by occasional birdsong or the rushing breeze 
 
as it rustles the leaves
here the earth's aroma showers me 
as it wafts up from the mossy forest floor
 
the soft layer of dried pine soothes 
my feet as it mutes my tread
I am drenched in arboreal calm
 
I soak in the reverence of this ancient forest  
I will not be hurried here.
©2021 Kim Klugh
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