In Maine the 4th of July…The bottom line is that women don’t create the chaos and unbearable noise that men do. It comes to a ‘head on the 4th – a time to create misery for all people who are peace loving – just more indication of the breakdown of our culture… I fear that patriarchy may live on until it destroys all we know.
Refuge (before bombing)
A symphony
of phoebe song
a river of stone
blessed by rain….
Beech leaves beckon,
crystal waters soothe
Hemlocks hum
I am part of
all there is…
Powers that harm
live just next door.
Leaning into Presence
I pray to
trees who mirror
back strength
beyond my own.
Beneath words
Before words
(once my kind knew…)
Forest is community
I am recovering lost language
becoming green enough
to sense and feel.
Woodland Peace.
The Library of the Earth
is a Living Story
waiting to be read
Forests pour
honeyed senses
golden pollen
over any who listen
erasing
fear or stupidity.
Circle of Fire
Bombs
Explosives
Splitting
Shattering cells
Mutilated
tender bodies
Trees, birds
Dogs and me
Green Heron too…
Ears and limbs
under assault
from those
who would
annihilate.
They must
not win…
War bombs
drown out
The Voice of the
Forest who heals.
Do the trees recall
fireworks
of yore?
Sparklers
that lit up
the night
raining
flowery fountains –
Below
a firefly
lit field
held bowls of water.
Glowworms.
And my dad
playing with
his children
while others
looked on…
Disdain?
Is that how I learned
to dismiss
a man
capable of love?
All I know is that
I did.
It’s too late
to say
I’m sorry,
even while
owning
what
I learned
at Familial Feet.
Circle of Fire Two
Yet a circle of fire
returns us to mend what
was broken to begin with
« People don’t change »
going back to repair
untrustworthy relationships
built on deceit,
a willingness
to repeat old patterns
is an act
of stupidity.
Just to be
be seen?
Gray green needles
clear muddied mind…
I ask the forest
“ What must I do?”
“ Be Still “
Cardinal chimes in.
“Be Still
Let Body lead.”
Trust Earth
and Hemlock
to Guide.
Little Deer
Is near.
A rich soil
of possibilities
pulses light
illuminates
unhallowed dark.
I’m still
oozing with confusion.
I must learn
the kind
of patience
Nature mirrors:
Expect nothing,
Love,
Live in Now.
Recovery
Phoebe
Sings up
Blue
and Green
Hemlock and pine roots
offer comfort
to exhausted
trees
and bird
children
recovering
from assault…
Sing on
says Phoebe
And it’s my
job to listen.
Sing on…
After – Words
Refuge,
wrap me
in fragrant branches
Let me feel
ribbed trunks
behind me.
Steep gorge below.
Help me to hear
songs beneath words
Take my body –
Throw bird branches
over me
Let me rest –
Just
be a part of what is.
I know we can be cut down
but for now
We stand as One.
We live keening
for what has been lost
And for what may
come…
Seeking always
Acceptance of what is.
These last italicized words are more about me and my struggle to accept what is happening to forests, waters, trees. Nature, I believe, already knows and accepts what is – her perspective is ancient and wise, mine is only a fragment in time….Although grief is part of the whole, the message is always the same – live on.
BIO: Sara Wright is a naturalist, ethologist (a person who studies animals in their natural habitats) (former) Jungian Pattern Analyst, and a writer. She publishes her work regularly in a number of different venues and is presently living in Maine.
feminismandreligion.com 
It’s a good time to be old. I reflect often on my happy memories, while wondering how much longer oxygen-breathing creatures will survive the onslaught of patriarchy.
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This so beautiful and so poignant. Your line about sparklers made me think of July 4 when I was a child. We would always go up to a lake in northern Michigan and run around with sparklers – no fireworks on the lake then – and it was so magical. Now I understand there is a big fireworks display over the lake. What a travesty of the beauty and peace of the lake! I do hear more people questioning unnecessary noise and explosions, especially related to fireworks, as they are so disruptive to wild living beings, children, and those with trauma related to guns or war. May the questioning lead to a reverence for the peace of stillness for us all.
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It is a good time to be old as Katherine just said – i was just making that remark to someone today – if I was young – sensitive that i am, visionary that i am, i’m not sure i could go on.
I remember that these holidays used to be fun…. the intent was not to blast people out of their bodies… here we also have impotent men with too many guns…
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