To the transcontinental tree elders across India and Turtle Island
May we learn from Banyan trees the creativity of growing aerial roots.
May we learn from Oak trees the engineering of inner depths withstanding violent storms.
May we learn from Neem trees the healing power of bitter medicines in fragmented sugar lands.
May we learn from Magnolia trees the art of unabashedly embodying our colorful magnificence.
May we learn from Coconut trees the tending of tenderness in the heart of hardness.
May we learn from Weeping Willow trees the beholding of old grief even as we sow new seeds.
May we learn from Tamarind trees the weaving of wide canopies made by the dance of tiny leaves.
May we learn from Sequoia trees the regenerating passages of purging wildfires.
May we learn from Sandalwood trees the chemistry of persevering our fragrance through snaky entanglements.
May we learn from Birch trees the shedding of old skins for welcoming the future, now.
May we renew.
May we renew.
May we renew.
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Neha Misra (she/her) is an award-winning climate justice advocate, immigrant poet, and contemporary eco-folk artist. Her interdisciplinary practice builds bridges between private, collective, planetary healing and justice. Neha is a Public Voices Fellow on the Climate Crisis — an initiative of the OpEd Project and the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication to change who writes history. She is the Global Ambassador of non-profit Remote Energy, making solar training more accessible. Learn more at nehamisrastudio.com
