Monday, October 17, 2022

In A Floundering Sea

 


Mother Earth,
you grew me like a tree
on a riverbank, toes in the water.
You grew me with eyes
always looking up
at your ever-changing skies
that taught me to strive.

I am a student, longing
to learn the language of clouds,
of trees, of birds and beasts,
of whalesong.
I learn from my indigenous neighbours
that everything is one, that
even the lowly slug's slippery journey
across the path is to be respected.

I am a sailor on the sea of hope,
praying for safe harbour.
I am holding two truths simultaneously:
the glorious beauty of this long, golden fall,
and the forests dying of drought.
I am a beating heart, aching
at salmon lying dead by the thousands
in dry riverbeds, yet lifting
at the news fish are still leaping
the rapids in the river that I know best.

There is an owl calling to me at night
from the nearby forest. I listen; so far
it has not yet called my name. One night,
a cougar screamed below in the darkness.
Here, the wild ones come close, into "our" world,
which is wilder and more cruel than theirs.
I long to walk back with them,
into their world, of deep forest
and hidden unpeopled shore.

I stand on the tombolo, and turn
in a slow circle: 360 degrees of beauty,
radiant and shining. I close my  eyes;
when I open them, the colours
have deepened. I am one with the sky,
the sand, the cedar, the soaring eagle,
the croaking raven,
one with the song
of the waves
~ my soul-song.

Mother Earth,
you grew me like a tree, with strong roots
to hold fast against the storms of this life,
but you kept my branches flexible,
so I can support others, yet not break
when the wild winds blow through.

I am a tired tree, now,
bending low towards the earth,
still a student, striving to learn
the language of the wild world
I hold in my heart.
I am a sailor on the ocean of hope,
in a floundering sea,
praying for safe harbour,
and shelter, and justice
and peace,
for all of your beings.


for Lindi's marvelous challenge at earthweal: Enactivism and the Poetry of Becoming. It is a must-read!


11 comments:

  1. A wonderful prayer I share with you. I like the way you have described your connection to the Earth. Your heartfelt emotions come across very powerfully.Suzanne - Mapping Uncertainty

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  2. No way to keep that love without finding a way to accept the contrary truths of the age, as with "the glorious beauty of this long, golden fall, / and the forests dying of drought." Nobody promised us soul-singing would be easy, especially now, but here it is, still in love -- Thanks.

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  3. Mmm such a beautiful soul-song. There were so many lines that just jumped out at me with their truth and quiet beauty. Your love shines through in your writing. Thank you.

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  4. I love especially that second-to-last stanza--tired, but still beautiful, still strong. Kerfe

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  5. This resonates in my own bark-covered interior, Sherry--all its infinite sadness, and its unquenchable joy, even tho we must put our roots in the soil of world so much "wilder and more cruel than theirs.." Love your first lines and how they echo back at the end.

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    1. *this* world. Working on only my first cup of coffee here.

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  6. Aah - "the glorious beauty of this long, golden fall",
    Such a beautiful prayer. I love repetition that closes and the long slow journey that it takes and the heart centredness off all or it - you sing it beautifully Sherry. Thank you.

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  7. This is wonderful and you are many things always stretching and bending. The depth of your song is heard on land and sea. Learning the ways of the earth and her creatures. Sing on my friend….

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  8. This put tears in my eyes Sherry. Truly inspired writing, that resonated deeply and perfectly with me. I feel the duplicity you feel. It is beating me down. My CHF is both a physical deterioration, and a slow starvation, hungry for the love in this world that continues to diminish at a rate that has broken my heart. I pray it is still there and that it’s only my failing eyesight that is making it harder and harder to see. Bless you my friend. 🙂✌🏼❤️

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  9. Love and joy also come with pain. This beautiful piece reminds me to embrace every moment of joy I can from Mother Earth and the universe she inhabits. Every feather and leaf has a story if we just look and listen.

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  10. This is a beautiful expression of love and longing, Sherry - 'a sailor on the sea of hope' is an image full of buoyancy, and survivalist spirit. Sometimes it feels like treading water, but it's so important to stay afloat on that sea of hope!

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