Nave

On my way home, the final stretch
is down a dirt trail, today whitened
and softened by snow. Either side,
storm-twisted maples, their tops
reaching, then touching to enclose
me in the nave of a cathedral. And as
I make this holy walk, I notice how small
I am and how big the trees are, but also
how their arching love protects while they
tell me what I already know: that I, like
the crows and the tiny black mice,
deserve my place on this sacred earth.