Dreams in the Mondream Wood

In the heart of the house lay a garden.
In the heart of the garden stood a tree.
In the heart of the tree lived an old man who wore the shape of a red-haired boy with crackernut eyes that seemed as bright as salmon tails glinting up the water.
His was a riddling wisdom older by far than the ancient oak that housed his body.
The green sap was his blood and leaves grew in his hair.
In the winter, he slept.
In the spring, the moon harped a windsong against his antler tines as the oak’s boughs stretched its green buds awake.
In the summer, the air was thick with the droning of bees and the scent of the wildflowers that grew in stormy profusion where the fat brown bole became root.
And in the autumn, when the tree loosed its bounty to the ground below, there were hazelnuts lying in among the acorns.

The secrets of a Green Man.
–Charles De Lint

Paper: Stillman & Birn Sketchbook
Colours: Hansa M., Q. Burnt Orange, Burnt Umber, Alizarin & Indanthrone
Fountain Pen: Platinum Desk Pen EF DP1000AB
Ink: Noodlers’ Lexington Grey
Location: Les Cèdres, Québec, Canada