Beavers heal habitats
The benefits of predators
The mountains and the mist
The mountains and the mist Stone - the house of spirit Spirit without a house is like A tortoise might be without a shell Or a flower with no upholding stem The sun without a companion moon A dream without the awakening The night absent the dawn The indwelling spirit – gone Like the man without a wit of sense That strange, ill-tempered one Who, with no permission Built a world of plastic, A desecration, bereft of magic A digging up of the hallowed bones Of the sacred Gold-winged dragons Bringing forth a brittle box – Stolen from the earth’s crust And the planet’s inmost soul Leaving an empty pit A blasphemy A parody of being An End Hence, we must go back now Soon To the land of dawn-green forests Where the horned lark may call forth her wisdom, Where a pack of wolves sing In the echoing dark Where the Mediterranean plum Trees greet the tall, talking rocks With the pattern of the sunlit web of shadow, The houses of spirit Rise again in the mist Where the waves honor the owl-bright night, And fishes leap with keener sight Under the fleet, Billowing sails of the eternal moon - The ship of all beginning. © Copyright, Sharon St Joan, 2023
Bells
An odd
Turn taken,
And now the road goes by beside
Burned cities all forsaken
And the ashes of fields are crumpled into dust.
The canyon wrens
No longer fly near here
And their guiding spirits
Seem to have no wings,
A numinous cloud blocks
The lunar rays from shining
While the moon forgets her phases, just
As the sun
Is lost, setting in the cave by the sea,
When the tide
Has turned out of sight
Yet beyond the time still gone,
The dragonfly flits
Anew through rainbowed fountains;
The light of heaven sings
High on the shimmering
Branches of the holy mountains
Beyond the impenetrable night
Of hidden majesty.
“Abhaya mudra”
“Fear not” – but only follow
Ganesha,
Always wise,
With eyes
Of emerald light.
Go,
Where the black-chinned hummingbirds fly,
That host
of angels,
Who stay
Unwavering, steady on their way
Brave in the bright
Wind of dawn
Above the sea crashing long
On the rocks
Where all begins, again and yet again
Within the bells
Of Shiva,
Far along
The wave-bent coast,
In the still-sung, rising song
Of the Holy One.
In the mists of the bells of Shiva,
in the winds of the song and
The ringing of the seas.
© Copyright Sharon St Joan, 2023
Wisconsin wolves
God is in the Details
Water?
Please join us this Saturday in person or on Zoom!
A Forest Voices of India presentation, second of a series of events focusing on the fascinating world of nature.
Saturday, July 29, at 2 pm
“Water ?”
You are invited to attend “Water?,” a talk and discussion led by Bart Battista.
At the Nomad Café, at the Port of Entry, Kanab, UT
There will be music too, by Bobbi Chaney!
This Saturday, July 29, 2 PM!
Bart Battista As a Major in the Marine Corps, Bart Battista focused on managing the environment. Both a scientist and an engineer, he has a Masters degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Management, with a specialization in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology. Working with Battelle as a research scientist, he organized an environmental clean-up project in both the southwest U.S. and in Japan. Later, as the operations manager and lead environmental planner at Camp Pendleton, with a team of 100, he oversaw the drinking water and wastewater systems on 125,000 acres, with 70,000 people working there. At Best Friends Animal Society, he is the Facilities and Infrastructure Manager, keeping major systems functioning.
A captivating speaker, Bart Battista will give us a clear view of water systems throughout Utah and the southwest, including our aquifers and how they work, will tell us about amazing aspects of the physical nature of water, and will talk about our changing relationships to water – followed by a discussion. Water is relevant to all of us.
Here is the zoom link for anywhere in the world –
2:30 pm, July 29, U.S. Mountain time:
https://suu-edu.zoom.us/j/96820541578
Note: The Zoom link will begin at 2:30 pm, not at 2 pm.
We look forward to seeing you!
Sharon
Sharon St Joan,
Forest Voices of India