Fig Tree Communion

author's note:

I've never taken communion...

...in church.


FIG TREE COMMUNION

I take this fig
onto my tongue
into my mouth
into my blood

and as I taste its richness
I meditate on
the spirit of the fig tree
from which it comes--

the tree:
strong in its patience
as it slowly builds
ring upon ring--

the tree:
when finally at full growth
remains strong enough to bend
sideways with the wind
then snap back
to vertical--

the tree:
though shaken by the storm
still able to remember
its strength
by remembering
its deep roots.

And so, the fig
as it feeds my blood
tells me to feel
my own tree spirit--
tells me to think

of how strong
I must become
if I'm to produce
such nourishing figs
as this one.

© 2012, Michael R. Patton
searching for the new mythology