The mountains and the mist

amazing waterfall with lush foliage on rocks
Photo by ArtHouse Studio on Pexels.com
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

el arco de cabo san lucas under white and blue sky
Photo by Efrain Alonso on Pexels.com

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

Water?

time lapse photography of waterfall
Photo by Avery Nielsen-Webb on Pexels.com

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

https://forestvoicesofindia.com