Photographs by Lauren Harris
I would like to share two new poems that had my attention throughout May/June 2011. These poems are linked to specific gatherings I was part of here in my Wyoming Teton home, yet somehow I feel they might have relevance for the larger world. When I write a poem for an event, be it wedding/birth/end-of-life-earthly-celebration my intention is always this: What wants to be heard? I have learned this question/inquiry liberates me and the words to come forth with clarity. Thank you for reading them, ingesting them, perhaps feeling the Earth coming through to speak to us. These poems came out of the profound eclipse shifts of June.
A Returning Grace
by Lyn Dalebout
~Grace: courteous goodwill~bestowal of blessings~a short prayer of thanks~
a holy love of place
has brought us here today
with wholeness in our hearts
we sense a returning Grace
we are embedded in this land
timeless yet eternally new
we are wedded to this land
constantly renewed
as Earth we want you present
as Earth we want you whole
as Earth we seek to bridge
the great divides within each soul
once a valley of outlaws and rebels
now innovators explorers all
celebrants of wild beauty
answering the vision questers call
feel the common ground below
embrace the unity of sky above
we live in this unified field
this land itself heals all great divides
we are embedded in this land
timeless yet eternally new
we are wedded to this land
constantly renewed
as Earth we want you present
as Earth we want you whole
as Earth we seek to balance
that which divides each soul
walk with your wild cousins
deer antelope great bear
hummingbirds eagles wrens
with mountain lions wolves
~share~
open space for each to grow
open space for each to be free
dream long-range free-range
think longevity of the whitebark trees
as Earth we see you present
as Earth we see you whole
as Earth we see you balanced
as whole and holy souls
this land has a way of shifting you
you can’t remain here unchanged
destination: transformation
this gift of the Tetons remains
a holy love of place
has brought us here today
with wholeness in our hearts
may we thrive in this emerging Grace
WiseBark: A Cambium Incantation
Poem for the ancient White Bark Pines
By Lyn Dalebout
WhiteBark Matriarch
Old Growth Patriarch
Enter our Mind Field now
Old Growth Matriarch
WhiteBark Patriarch
Engage our Mind Field now
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Pelican Elephant Whale
Keepers of the Records of Time
Beings of Eternal Wisdom
The WhiteBarks are part of this tribe
With twisting twirl and spiral dance
What history You have seen
Lacquered in lichen torched by lightning
Such eternity links every cell
Perched by birds scared by fires
Scratched by the claws of great bear
You awaken within us lessons remembered
Constellated in your wise bark core
Cambrian wisdom ancient and kind
Resides in your cambium core
Entwined intertwined
Your sweet nuts caviar for carnivores
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WhiteBark Matriarch
Old Growth Patriarch
Enter our Heart Mind now
Old Growth Matriarch
Wise Bark Patriarch
Engage our Heart Mind now
~cambium is the living layer of tissue that links the newly forming present day tree with the ancient outerbark historical rings~perhaps a fitting metaphor for our job as evolutionary humans~
My next post, soon coming is entitled ALKALIZE YOURSELF ALKALIZE THE EARTH which addresses the link between the health of the individual and the health of our beloved Earth.
**Grace to you**
Lyn Dalebout
deerlyn@gmail.com
