The Gospel of Trees by Apricot Irving

Author:Apricot Irving
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

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The roof of the school was my cathedral. It was the only place on the compound—the only place in Haiti—where I felt utterly alone, free to sink into a deep well of silence, seen and heard by no one. Flat on my back under a blue-black sky, scalloped breadfruit leaves and royal palms swayed against the stars. The bamboo rustled and sang. I flung out my arms and drank in the glory, held by a mystery greater than myself.

I was an acolyte at the temple of beauty, although I did not yet have words for this, and no doubt would have considered it heresy if I had. Beauty was a luxury that, as a missionary kid, I had been taught to mistrust. It was not useful. It could not save anyone. But when I was alone with beauty, something in me felt reckless with joy. I was in the presence of something that I could not name, but when it spoke to me, I wanted to answer: Here I am.

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