Rashah holding an Oak tree seedling
California, United States
P L A Y
The Givers of Life
How does one begin to explain the reverence for a being so ancient,
Grand
Still,
How can my words adequately describe your hair raising whispers
Or the fruit that you bear
The medicine that you are
The life you give
The lives you take
The shelter you effortlessly provide,
Our love is that of a parent and child
You give without expecting
I receive without fully understanding what is being given
We exist in one another's spaces
But without you I would be nothing but spirit,
So how does a body express a love to a being it's existence depends on
With songs
Or hugs
Or a simple thank you every now and again
Or a day of celebration
How does a being so out of tune learn from one who's cyclical ways are its first nature
Whose being have not forgotten
I do not expect an answer when I am still on the journey of looking like a tree
Instead of embodying one
You are not nature because of what you do
But because of who you are,
And if I too am nature, then I must be a part of the thickness in your sap
The roughness in your bark
I too must speak the language of your roots
I must realize I am also the cycle of birth, life, and death
We deserve the reverence for being so
Ancient
Grand
And Still
You were only waiting for me to remember
— Rashah Solun
A B O U T R A S H A HRashah Solun is an interdisciplinary storyteller and writer whose work is guided by the red clay that has held both her human and nonhuman ancestors, the Earth that has held us all, and always Spirit. When Rashah is not drifted away in her imagination she enjoys communing with nature, cracking jokes with her husband/best friend, traveling, reading anything she gets her hands on, preparing herbal remedies, dancing until her body aches, and preparing for her new role as a mother.
“If I too am nature, then I must be a part of the thickness in your sap, the roughness in your bark. I too must speak the language of your roots. I must realize I am also the cycle of birth, life, and death.”
— Rashah Solun
Photography by Liv Milani
Voice and music mixing by Joanna Lero
Music credit: Milo Manzana, Alquimia
