Becoming Tree is a book about finding true home in the magic of nature. Inspired by the gifts I’ve received in the natural world, the essays and poems are expressions of deep gratitude for trees and for all of the beings, human and nonhuman, who live on and care for Mother Earth.
To me the world of nature is an artesian well where my soul quenches its thirst, the undersong of my spirit’s desires. As I watch time’s back nearing the far horizon, I see in nature the footprints of light that have been my life. I feel the rivers’ flow in my veins, the stones at sunset burning in my bones. In lit flashes of memory I know I have walked a path the brave dare to travel, where the forest inspires the visionary self and the fields give birth to creative wisdom. Thus, I honor in my writing the intricate world of nature that has always been a faithful mentor and teacher. _______________________________________
Becoming Tree is a book that defies classification: memoir, lyric poetry, visual art, testimonial, it is all of these, and much more.
Carol Guerrero-Murphy, poet, author of Chained Dog Dreams
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Everything about this book is exquisite—the writing, the art, the message, the narrative arc of Pam Noble’s life and her journey with the sacred, the presentation of the book itself, how it lays in the hand, on the table, a book to be kept alongside for a long time. The art by Hollander adds a dimension of reverie to the pieces that is its own gift to the work. Trust this book and give yourself the gift of it.
Christina Baldwin, author of Life’s Companion, Journal Writing as a Spiritual Practice, and Storycatcher, Making Sense of our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story.
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I am struck by how the poems, prose pieces, and lovely art work in this collection fall like those blessing, both light and heavy, sometimes with individual power, sometimes with collective reverberation.
Anita Skeen, Series Editor, Wheelbarrow Books, Founding Director, The RCAH Center for Poetry at Michigan State U.
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From the moment you feel Becoming Tree in your hands, you know Pam Noble is inviting you into an enchanted world. It’s the world around and in us: the natural world, the animal world, and perhaps most of all, the world of our inner awareness.
Sue Brightman, Life Coach & Retreat Leader, Author A Call to Further Becoming: The New Declaration from Women Over 50
