New Words to the song in Your Head

From "I am a Rock" to "I am Hem-lock"

https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/pennsylvania/state-tree/eastern-hemlock

When I was a teenager, the song I would play on my record player over and over and over was Simon & Garfunkel’s I Am a Rock; it became my anthem. I naively thought I could insulate myself from pain. But as I completed my herbal apprenticeship at Misty Meadows, (https://www.mistymeadows.org/ ), I’ve realized that I’ve been singing that same old song too long, and the plants have given me new words to my song! Inspired by the hemlocks and pines so abundant in my backyard, I choose connection, compassion, and courage to guide my life now.

I am Hem-lock

A winter’s day

In a deep and dark November

I’m not alone

Gazing from the treetops to the earth below

On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow

I am Hem-lock

I am White Pine

I’ve grown tall

My branches ever reaching

Connecting roots with my neighbors

I have no need of judgment, judgment causes pain

It’s courage and compassion that I claim

I am hemlock

I am White Pine

Don’t talk of fear,

It’s time to leave the shadows

And step into the sunshine

It’s time to stir the slumber of feelings held inside

If I never feared, I’d never had to hide

I am Hemlock

I am White Pine

I have my herbs in my apothecary to protect me

I have Lemon Balm and Goldenrod

Calendula and Tulsi, Linden and Hawthorn

With help from plants, I’ll weather any storm

I am hemlock

I am white pine

And Hemlock feels no shame

And White Pine shall ever rise