Incubation

[The_jackalope]

Incubation
by Bodhi Paul Chefurka

I have been waiting in this darkness for half an eternity.
Sealed in soil, protected by my thick hard coat I wait.

Deep within, sleepy whispers of infinite patience;
The time is not yet right, and you are safe. Just wait.
When the time is right, you will know. Just wait.
I slumber on, dreaming slow, ancient dreams of life.

Somewhere overhead there is a noise, a crackle.
An impossibly swift crescendo - the crackle surges to a roar.
The soil around me changes,
The deep, slow part of me feels the sign.
It is time.

My dark earth home grows warm, and, in an instant, hot.
Fingers of flame reach through the soil,
Scorch my hardened skin -
The burning touch of a lover who will not be denied.
Under the fiery seducer's caress
My hard skin cracks and peels.

The lustful roaring of the fire dies away.
Again I wait.

In time a new sensation quickens my dim senses.
Overhead, instead of burning, now it rains.
I suck the moisture in through cracks in my skin,
Swell a little,
And once more I wait.

Time passes, and the rain comes again.
Once more I follow the coded primal dance.
Again I grow,
And wait.

Then again,
And yet again.

I have outgrown my devastated skin,
Rough soil rasps new and tender flesh.
In the dark I struggle upward.

The impulse is deeper now.
The pattern in my body tells me how to struggle,
But a deeper herald tells me why:
I am Life. I Must.

Surging up,
I burst into a foreign land - a cacophony of light and sound.
Resting, I bend my head to the familiar earth,
Soak up the warming touch of this higher plane.

In the warmth I now can feel Her presence, close around me.
She is very near,
But I cannot see her,
Though I search with all my might.

Without warning, from behind She speaks:
"That's one of the clearest profiles I have seen yet.
Really lovely.
Please have a look at mine and tell me what you think."

No longer a seed, not yet a tree,
I draw myself up straight,
Take a deep breath,
Turn to face Her radiance.

Oh yes, really lovely.

I think I am going to enjoy being a tree.