These are my responses to the Earth Stanzas project, a Traveling Stanzas project from the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University and the Center for Earth Ethics.
Earth Stanzas
I am the snow slaking thirst in summer.
based on The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee by N. Scott Momaday
Remember the fire sky. Taking tiny breaths of smoke. The urge to flee and no place to go. Make a change so your children won’t know that taste in their mouths.
based on Remember by Joy Harjo
To be lived on gently, in harmonious energy with her cycles. To be respected, in acknowledgment that she is the source of all. To be given thanks, in reciprocity for the gifts she gives, including life.
based on Earth’s Desire by Thomas Berry
Holy the endangered. Holy the prairie dogs alarm-calling. Holy the oil shale penstemons dotting coveted white cliffs with purple. Holy the pikas gathering hay in summer heat. Holy the Gunnison sage-grouse booming while the wells pump. Holy the small and insignificant, magnificent in their complexity.
based on For Marcellus by Sandra Steingraber
Get out of all walls, where you can see sky. Face north. Listen for the farthest sound, at the very edge of hearing – note it with thanks. Face east. Bow to the earth, nose to soil, until you smell the scent of this place. Face south. Run your hands over the nearest living thing, caressing it and memorizing it with your skin. Face west. Open your mouth wide to taste the air on your tongue, sipping the day. Now turn until you see something remarkable. Thank it by name, or approximation. Do this every day you are blessed with presence.
based on Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front by Wendell Berry
We, this people, must know ourselves as no different from any other people, any other apes, any other mammals, any other vertebrates, any other animals, any other beings, any other assemblages of molecules/energy/space. We are all one.
based on A Brave and Startling Truth by Maya Angelou
Moon Creek, you sing to me even when I’m tired. I rest my eyes on your flashing flow and instantly relax. You smooth away the snow and bring spring here. Thank you for your unceasing song.
based on Thank You, Tree by Fatou M’Baye
I have been thinking about living like an otter, sleeping tethered to kelp, paws pressed, smell of the sea thick in my triangle nose, embodying the rhythm of wave, all softness, all play.
based on Ladder to the Stars by Ella Hassler
