Sublime

“It’s a great idea, trees. So great that evolution keeps inventing it, again and again.”

acclaimed nature writer Jay Griffiths, author of the bestselling books Wild and Kith,

After transporting what looked like a dead, charred log to her distant garden, I saw a Matsigenka woman breathe life back into a hidden ember using a combination of dried moss, which she brought with her, and thermal reflection from other logs. I was also embarrassed when another young Matsigenka woman, with the requisite infant slung at her side,

But people have grown weary of the sour taste in their mouths. A great longing is upon us, to live again in a world made of gifts. I can scent it coming, like the fragrance of ripening strawberries rising on the breeze.

The poinciana species reaches through the whole region, and though it changes its name (I am reminded of this every time I go to Puerto Rico, where it is more aptly named flamboyán), it grows in Jamaica, Barbados, Cuba, and South Florida, cooling fevers and inflammation for those who know the old ways, brightening the day for everyone else.