Courting Connection
we are each other
all of us
intricately connected
in unnumerable ways
united whether we feel it or not
we are united whether we feel it or not
unique in our own special way
but joined as one
created to live in harmony
and it all started with hope
carried in many seeds
we are seeds
we await the season
for us to germinate
but, what’s this?
something is tangled in our growth…
some feathers!
we are the feathers
together we are stronger than alone
can we work together
to be the green shoot?
we are a fresh green shoot
full of energy
ready to blossom and grow….
but instead we are unexpectedly plucked
by a passing pigeon
we are pigeon
clumsy, clever, and populous
we gather for our nest;
moss, feathers, and sticks
we are the sticks
we are different and the same
we are getting shorter
no we come together + burn
we are chargrilled sticks
we are the chargrilled sticks
roasted in sunlight
eaten by time
considering consummation
by many fire amoeba
the neighbours are approaching;
inviting the future
seed by seed
cone by cone
we are the cone
it has been a long way down
we are covered in moss
we are not happy
about the tulips
we are tulips
we are usually in groups
sometimes we branch out on our own
but most of us don’t want to be
on a branch
we are the branches
reiterations of the whole
but unrooted
at least we see
the floating feathers
we are a floating feather
drifting on a breath of dust
a light that shines from hill to hill
a signal from east to west
they’ve arrived
torched a beacon
we are a bright shining beacon
in a sea of grass
deep rooted
as tough as old boots
yet in order to grow
we have to let go
become so gentle and delicate
that we can catch the invisible wind
flying, floating
we are floating in the breeze
we are soft fluffy
& warm
we are warm beings
so when we find sticks
we build fires
as we are warm beings
that love sticks
we are a small piece from a big tree
no longer attached
joining the rest of the things on the ground
the detritis…
we are the detritus in the grass
petals and cut grass
moss uprooted and probably a lot more
we celebrate ourselves in our dispersed beauty
and carry a memory of our form
that you recognise
in time we will disappear
for the cycle of nature
we are all part of nature though
from the oldest trees
to all the wildlife
and the downy feathers
of our birds
we are downy feathers
floating gently on the breeze
falling to the earth
where we are collected
as an artefact
we are nature’s diverse artefacts
that are dependent on
or affected by
water
we are water
swirling in a cloud city
high above gloucestershire
falling from great height
plunging down
to meet the flowers
we are the flowers
offering our scent to bring refreshment
to weary brains
we are beautiful
as we fade
we seek a place
to rest our heads
we want to rest with the small branches
with a diversity of lichens
we are small branches with a diversity of lichens
we were in the floor and later
were picked up and held
as precious beings
then we got broken
but in this new world
full of humans
we at least still had each other
we are each other…
Authors
A collaborative place-based story from Stonehouse, transcribed here as crafted and captured in and around Stonehouse Court Hotel in Stonehouse, England, on Monday 13 April 2025, between 15:30 and 17:00 BST, by Lotte Dijkstra, delegates of the Arboricultural Association Green Equity Symposium 2026, and the more-than-human beings present.
Image adapted from Arboricultural Association.