Tag: creation

poetry

mud people

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mud people

Then there were the first humans, whose job it was to offer prayer, tell stories, and remember the passage of time. Made of the clay of this earth, the mud people of the first creation did not endure; when it rained, their bodies grew soft and dissolved.
– “Creations” from Dwellings by Linda Hogan

mud people
we soft squish
puddle and
wear away

tears run rivulets
into furrows into
cracks into
crumbles

we have no hard
to hang onto
no set stone spine

instead we bend bow sway
pray palms high
heart pressed low to
earth’s chest listening
to pulse and wave
pliant supplicants
consumed by awe

all we need
is to make:
prayer / tale
sound salve
time taste

and for you to please take
what our muddy palms
hold out open
trembling

poetry

standing declaration

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Graham’s penstemon photo by Susan Meyer. White-tailed ptarmigan photo by Owen.

standing declaration

Do you believe in a creator
who intends that humans should
act as guardians of creation?

my chest opens
and frozen birds fall out
my lips part
and fuzzy orange tongues
lisp yes yes yes
my hands clench and unclench
in an angry motion like prayer
all signifying
who have we become
when we must swear in a court of law
that we still believe
in the righteousness of compassion
before scientists can do their job?

tonight while sleep stifles me
I’ll do my own work
dreaming of penstemons and ptarmigans
in a paradise devoid of people
where they’re left to sing their own songs
make sun into sugar into flight
just for the pure joy of being
not to do a single ape good