The Universal Tree Poem by HOWLIN' DERVISH

THE UNIVERSAL TREE

The wise one came upon a ring of stones in whose centre stood a Tree. The roots were firm and the branches touched the heavens. Its fruits were in the palms of three deities clothed in shades of green. Among its branches sat the Crow and the strange Simerg, and in the shelter of its boughs perched the Ringdove and the Hawk. The wise one greeted the Tree and it answered, greeting him even more finely. It said: “Listen, O wayfarer, O magus.”

“Mine are the vast earth and the heavens.
In my centre are equivalence and moderation.
Mine are the firmly-rooted, the renown.
The secret of the worlds, and the exaltation.
When thoughts betake themselves to my essence
The distance and the blinding Cloud bewilder them.”