Author Archives
I am a writer and naturalist who lives in a little log cabin by a brook with my two dogs and a ring necked dove named Lily B. I write a naturalist column for a local paper and also publish essays, poems and prose in a number of other publications.
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My Grandmother’s Clocks
Four handsare spiralingaround a circlebreaking timeinto increments. Resonate bells call up dark nights,independentlyushering in a seasonwithout need to harmonize.Percussive voicessoothe an achingheart overflowingwith grief.Chimes intoningthe inside out. Recently I gave myself an expensive gift. I had my two beloved clocks cleaned and oiled,… Read More ›
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Moving towards the Dark… “Elder”berry Musings…by Sara Wright
“I wake up under a tropical dome that has been with us most of August. The thick air feels like it is smothering me, and with emphysema that may not be my imagination. I can no longer walk or hike… Read More ›
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Who is the Goddess? by Sara Wright
I have been re-reading Rebirth of the Goddess reflecting upon my own journey over these past 40 years, remembering how her image appeared to me as a bird goddess the day I first worked with river clay… When I discovered… Read More ›
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Vigil by Sara Wright
The third daydawns under a cloud. Mourning dovesspread their wingsacross leaden skies.I am walking on air.Two restlessnights – a hugetruck in the yard –Blocked,my stomach lurches.I read Tributes in a daze.Fierce Little FlowerWarrior Womanfights a torrent of waves.She is bridging raging watersforging a New… Read More ›
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Earth Rises Again by Sara Wright
A horizonbelching sooty smokepollutes once pure airpressing invisibleparticles, ozone into granite – lichen covered mountains – plant/animal lungs are coated in filthjust as ours are. Death hangs overa leaden sky,the sweet scentof moistureis absent.Tomorrow’sbitter orange sunrisesignals what manystill refuse to believe:The Earth is on Fire.Those… Read More ›
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Legacy by Sara Wright
When I planted my cedarin the gardenit seemed like an odd place –Why bury her amongst a plethora of summer flowersunless I feared she’d disappear?I was afraid to name her – Guardian. When delicate fronds dulled, turned brownI despaired. Weeks passed.I considered pullingher up… Read More ›
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Women, Birds, and Feminism by Sara Wright
When I was about forty years old I discovered a clay deposit on a beach that I visited frequently. Intrigued, I sat down and began working with the river’s gift. I remember my astonishment when a beaked bird – woman… Read More ›
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Patriarchy – For Love of Predators by Sara Wright
I live just down the road from one of our many lakes and ponds here in western Maine. Almost every morning I hear the haunting call of the loons as they fly over the house. Although I cherish the symphony… Read More ›
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Rainy day Reflection by Sara Wright
Although the rain is tapering off we have had a temporary reprieve from the drought that has followed us through last year into spring and summer. Although the brook is flowing too quietly even after three days of showers the… Read More ›
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Midsummer Births a Goddess: In Honor of Carol Christ by Sara Wright
This year, more than ever before, I note a very subtle shift that is occurring as we approach the middle of July. Lots of humidity – and I confess – I love the sweet summer scent as long as it… Read More ›
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Perilous Passages by Sara Wright
Old Woman cackled on the winga pterodactyl with clawscrimson black and whitea great windwas howlingand she was too.Passages she screeched.Her wrath undid me. The Way was Narrow. Cushions of mosscalmed wet cavern walls,steep stones threatened uncertain footsteps,echoing my descent.At the bottomof… Read More ›
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Meditation in July – Weekend of July 4th by Sara Wright
I offered up morning prayers at dawn this July morning to the song of cardinals, rose breasted grosbeaks, and just barely rippling waters. The air was sweetened by water. Peace filtered through the green – seedlings, lichens, mosses, grasses, ferns,… Read More ›
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Fourth of July: A Time to Mourn by Sara Wright
I awakened to dove gray skies and the sweet scent of falling rain. Soaking in the greening of a fully leafed out forest and the stillness of early dawn felt like a gift because these quiet moments are precious and… Read More ›
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Deluge by Sara Wright
It’s time to submit another post to FAR, the only blog site I follow, and a place where I have found genuine support and even a sense of community, which for me is a great gift. Mostly, I experience myself… Read More ›
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The Little Mother by Sara Wright
This morning I met her by the barn sitting on a cedar fence regarding me with one shimmering marbled eye, a little spiked crown on her head. A moment later two tiny balls of feathers exploded out of a tangled… Read More ›
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Of Women and Wildflowers by Sara Wright
Women and plants have been in relationship since the dawn of humankind. Women were the Seed keepers. Women created agriculture. Women learned what herbs to use for healing. Women noticed wildflowers, loved them, grew them and painted them, created poems… Read More ›
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The Pear Tree by Sara Wright
She was more than a sapling, so robust. One summer she bowedher tear shaped body,offeringa hundred sweet pearsto any creaturethat sought her gifts.Did the deer remember? Fruit that fermented becamefertilizer for hungry plants. When theygirded her slender trunkthat winter I felt betrayedby the herd of graceful… Read More ›
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From the Ground Up by Sara Wright
As a 76 year old feminist who lives alone (except for animals) I have been struck by some recent experiences I have had with kind men, men that I would call “Mothers’ sons”. Overall, throughout my life I have had… Read More ›
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Lessons From the Mother Tree by Sara Wright
Last night I was reading Forest Scientist Susanne Simard’s new book “Finding the Mother Tree”. She was writing about how uncanny it was that her personal life has paralleled that of trees, the forests, the plants, the fungi, the mycorrhiza… Read More ›
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‘Mother’ West Wind and Mary’s Gold by Sara Wright
One day last week it almost drizzled. When I stepped outside that morning I was engulfed by fragrant mist. Rarely does light fog give the thirst- driven forest a temporary reprieve, greening needles, and encouraging tiny leaves to unfurl. With… Read More ›
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Bears and Radical Ecology by Sara Wright
As an eco feminist I am deeply concerned with the loss of the animals I love. One of these is the Black bear whose visits are becoming more and more scarce as the forest around me disappears. The bear in… Read More ›
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“Finding The Mother Tree” by Sara Wright
Susan Simard received her PhD in Forest Science and is a research scientist who works primarily in the field. Part of her dissertation was published in the prestigious journal Nature. Currently she is a professor in the department of Forest… Read More ›
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Wood Frog Mother by Sara Wright
Dead CedarWeek after weekheat, wind, sun,shrinks vernal pools. Ditches are dry.Denizensof wet forest,masked gold leaves,seek shallow depressions fed by Spring. One night theheat wave breaksI smell rain,hear hoarse croaks.I stand thereswallowing soundinhaling fragrant airLamenting absence –so many voices stolenby drought.
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Broken Mothers by Sara Wright
I awakened under cloudsfeeling respite from fierceheat in April that forced maple, birch, beech, and poplar to bud and burst. First we planted Balsam seedlings; He climbed birch to saw off dying trunks, some broken beyond recognition, wreckage from the… Read More ›
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Vigil by Sara Wright
Preface: I am submitting this story for publication because it occurred during the Christian Holy Week and because it involves me, a woman who follows her dreams… That I did so in this instance was important in ways that I… Read More ›
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Red on Blue by Sara Wright
I dreamed her name not long before light – Pages fell out of a story written in blood. Every spring the words repeat as mist rises over the river. Harsh white light burns violet blue. She changes everything she touches… Read More ›
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Lily B and Messages From the Beyond by Sara Wright
The night before last I had a dream that has stayed with me. My dreams rise out of my body to teach and to comfort me so I pay close attention. I had recently written tributes for two men, Lynn… Read More ›
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High Desert Sojourn by Sara Wright
I longed to re-visit the desert – my first journey left me with a longing for wide open spaces, a blue sky dome, a bowl of stars at night, so to return 25 years later was to complete an unfinished… Read More ›
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Wings by Sara Wright
Early in January I discovered a chickadee with a broken wing floundering in the snow. I rescued him, providing him with a safe haven in the house, hoping he might recover use of his wing. For the first couple of… Read More ›
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Toadwise: A Tale for a Life Lover – Part II by Sara Wright
Read Part I here… In the Americas I found more recent Indigenous mythology on the Toad as Goddess. Tlaltecuhtli is a Pre–Columbian (1200–1519) goddess belonging to the Mexica. Although Tlaltecuhtli’s name is masculine modern scholars interpret this toad figure as… Read More ›
