I wanted to know . . . why the most ordinary scrap of meadow can rock us back on our heels in awe.[i] – Robin Wall Kimmerer Along the roadside, broad swaths of Queen Anne’s lace and chicory grace the… Read More ›
Nature
From the Archives: A Feminist Retelling of Noah’s Ark
This was originally posted on May 4, 2018 My daughters came to me after Sunday School one day, concerned about a story they had heard in which God drowned almost everyone on Earth. So I sat down and thought about… Read More ›
Peaceful Winding Endurance Road by Sara Wright
I personally think the quality of endurance is underrated. Remember Celie in The Color Purple? After living through hell this woman became who she was meant to be. Sometimes endurance does seem to be the way through. Just now the… Read More ›
Mystic Musings in Late July by Sara Wright
Intolerable temperatures, the air dripping with humidity, unable to sweat, my body catches fire. My aging mind shuts down. How to find hope in the ruins, not just personally but all around me in dying leaves rife with holes or… Read More ›
Seeding up at the Turning By Sara Wright
The forest is bursting with berries, blue lily beads are just one of a multitude of seeds…Astonishing pearl bells adorn mounds of shining wintergreen that shimmer across the forest floor. Soon those berries will blush, bead up, cry scarlet. Three… Read More ›
Three poems by Sara Wright
Spirits of the Forest In Forest Presence I listen, leaves and needles rustle Voices Hum inside Hemlock bark sounding if only humans would listen Incantations erupt beneath the forest floor wrapped in a tapestry of threads millions of miles of… Read More ›
Butterfly Wounding by Sara Wright
Bittersweet orange invokes wounding past torment endured at the hands of those who would harm. Air is lightened, cleansed by absence Trees rejoice Slaughter shifts perspective Despair presses Diamond. Fritillary seeks her flower lover in waiting Tongue seeking.
Part 2 – The Other Side of the Story by Sara Wright
To read part 1: click here I am watching my neighbor from a window as her body dissolves and disappears into a pile of dark smoke that rises up to the ceiling in a pink room. She leaves behind a… Read More ›
SNAPSHOTS FROM SUMMER by Esther Nelson
I’ve been told that most children in the United States learn to write haiku in third grade. At the very least they learn that haiku is a traditional poetic art form using seventeen syllables divided into lines of 5 – 7… Read More ›
The Ugly “Neighbor” and The Power of Evil by Sara Wright
What follows is yet another story of how patriarchy is destroying our culture through the lens of personal narrative. This is a pattern we must uncover, reveal for what it is and refuse to participate. As bell hooks once said,… Read More ›
Shifting Sands Tilting Floor by Caryn MacGrandle
I have this image in my mind of standing on one of those moving floors at the carnival. It is hard to get your balance because it is constantly shifting. The world is constantly shifting at the moment. It is unsettling…. Read More ›
Waxing Moon at Refuge by Sara Wright
Waxing moonpiercesfringed HemlocksStarburstsblink in and outOwls conversefrom Needled Crownsbathed inAir and Light.Refuge Treesoothed byFamiliar callssighs deeply,soakingIn the Night. Refuge incarnates as Aphrodite… In the forest I slip into a lime green skin with the help of one hemlock, under whose… Read More ›
Three Poems by Annelinde Metzner
To spend time in nature and deeply connect with Her is to allow enough time for Her surprising wisdom and dreamlike insights to open up for me. I call this “Plein Air Poetry.” It’s a joy to wait in… Read More ›
The Bang Bang Boys by Sara Wright
Mad wolf boys baya waxing solstice moon to Bloom PTSD Violenceis the GatewayNowhere to hide Bang Bang Warblers sing on FrightfragmentsinnocenceNerves strung too tightcontractGuns batterForest Peace Bang Bang
Return to the Wild by Caryn MacGrandle
Everything is connected. My son is into Alan Watts. He was speaking about him to me yesterday. It made me think of an old blog I had from 2014 where I quoted Alan Watts. “Advice? I don’t have advice…. Read More ›
Fern Hollow by Sara Wright
I awaken to the common yellowthroat warbler’s song. A light breeze wafts through the open window intensifying the scent of wild honeysuckle. Phoebe chimes in followed by Ovenbird, another warbler. Mama phoebe takes flight from her nest as I open… Read More ›
Crowning the Mother Tree by Sara Wright
Crown the trees that feed the bees, one more keystone species. Crown the trees that purify poisoned air, ground, water, create clouds for rain, return fish to streams… Crown trees that shelter birds as they turn light to sugar… Read More ›
May: A Reflection on Time and Trillium by Sara Wright
With May coming to a close in a few days, I am feeling nostalgia. This month is both elusive and dramatic – from bare trees to lime green, and now lilacs so heavily laden with blooms that some are bowed… Read More ›
From the Archives: Answering the Call by Joyce Zonana
This was originally posted on April 30, 2020 Very early in Henri Bosco’s 1948 novel Malicroix, a young man, Martial de Mégremut, living placidly amid fruitful orchards in a tame Provençal village, receives a letter informing him he has inherited… Read More ›
Hearing Grief by Xochitl Alvizo
I was writing this blog post on the same day that Rosemary Radford Ruether died, receiving the news during my writing process. The timing of that still has me feeling something I cannot yet express… One of the most meaningful… Read More ›
Wildflower Wonder by Sara Wright
Ephemeral Emergence Arbutus trumpets seduce bumblebees three lobed trillium wings streak rose shining stars pearling forest floors wild oats bow bluebead swords unfurl wild lily leaves clasp palms in prayer stained glass hemlock sky filters light fragrant needles fracture… Read More ›
A Reflection on Aging by Sara Wright
In feminism becoming a ‘wise’ crone is acknowledged (it is certainly true that experience brings insight), but the vulnerabilities associated with aging remain hidden. I wonder how much of this silence has to do with shame? Does our culture’s obsession… Read More ›
Starflower by Sara Wright
Snow tide recedes, shrinking waves expose papery oak leaves, thick tree roots, pine needles, fallen lichens, rich humus in the making… Mycelial networks curl tips and tendrils embrace decay.
From the Archives: A Tiny Life by Barbara Ardinger
When I first wrote this post in 2014, I said the news was getting me down. A terrorist gang in Nigeria had kidnapped, raped, and “married” two hundred schoolgirls. Kids were even then taking guns to school. What’s better as… Read More ›
Persephone Rises, Part 1 by Sara Wright
While researching Minoan Crete I learned that each autumn young girls once gathered blue violet saffron crocus to leave as an offering for the Wild Crocus Goddess as they prepared for adolescent female initiation rites. I was intrigued by the reference to… Read More ›
Sedna’s Tale by Sara Wright
The story of Sedna is yet another rendition of the Handmaid’s Tale. This one comes from the Arctic and the Inuit people. During this time when it seems as if patriarchy has a stranglehold on so many of us, I… Read More ›
Mycelial Madness by Sara Wright
For those of us who are dedicated to feminism and to the sanctity of nature here is one more way to understand the earth as our goddess. Her mysterious veil is the source of all life. Immanence is sacred. The… Read More ›
From the Archives: Child of the Earth by Elizabeth Cunningham
Moderator’s note: This marvelous FAR site has been running for 10 years and has had more than 3,600 posts in that time. There are so many treasures that have been posted in this decade that they tend to get lost… Read More ›
The Blessing of the Elders by Rachel Thomas
, elders are people who have illuminated my path, inspired me to see my own potential. To open my eyes, all my senses, even those I did not know I had. Elders show bravery and model for us how to be strong.
Seal – a Soulful Clown by Judith Shaw
Seal – ever curious – stands up in the water gazing about with her dark, soulful eyes before diving again into the enigmatic, mysterious sea. Seal initiates us into wonder by her extraordinary presence filled with playfulness, adaptability and deep… Read More ›
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