Raven Realm

October 9, 2021. Another extended boon-docking adventure has wound up back in Austin, Airstream in the driveway until we finish cleanup, 3 days thus far of sorting mail, paying bills, and checking for oddities in the yardscape. Enough. Time to indulge, share one of the many poems that emerged during these recent travels.

I’ve long had a thing for ravens. Their “black” includes blue highlights when the sun shines on them just so, and they are full of antics that capture my fancy. The part of New Mexico we just visited is home to many ravens, seen in small groups of 3 or 4 as well as solo – their silhouettes punctuating roadway skylines and their quirky calls penetrating forested mountains. Difficult birds to photograph! Especially in flight. But I got lucky enough to make do. This image is a composite of bluffs in the El Malpais National Conservation Area plus cooperative ravens from the next day (far more “accurate” than failed attempts to capture both at once!)

The poem began as a haiku, then grew into a series, composed in the passenger seat as we rolled along the Continental Divide in New Mexico.

Quirky

December 12, 2020. In the mood for something other than pandemic and politics, I’ve been out in the sunshine pondering many curiosities. One that came (back) to mind was my not-quite encounter with a raven on the mountain above Cloudcroft NM. Back in October. Enjoy.

Plea To The Chances

October 23, 2018.  Once a year the Lone Star Flute Circle (Native American flutes) meets at Austin’s premier garden (and more) center – The Natural Gardener.  Unique flute voices float out from the porch of the main building, hovering over ever-changing seasonal plants and yard sculptures.  Husband Gary stays on the porch, taking turns with the others, contributing several of his flute voices.  I wander the grounds, returning intermittently to the porch, listening to flutes all the while.

Except – as I approached the labyrinth in the back corner of the property, flutes were overridden by a raven calling, calling, calling.  The stark shift in tone from flute to caw jogged my thoughts back to words read earlier – glass half full – calling as insistently as the raven – commencing a labyrinth walk focused on capacity to add more to my glass.

Referenced: RobertOkaji.com – “Letter to Harper From Halfway To The Horizon”

Collective

June 1, 2017.  The last half of May was a bombardment of encounters – a piling on of understanding my own impermanence, connectedness, and choices. This poem has been finished multiple times, only to reopen given the next day’s encounter.  Not all-inclusive, some pieces were trimmed to make space for others.   I’m calling this complete now.  (Though there could be a sequel!)

This began with breaking open during Jimmy LaFave’s final performance three days before his death – witnessing his choice to live his last year on his own terms, embracing life rather than fighting death.  The wrap-up arrived as a scientific article on lichens.

References:  [1] Poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer’s poem “Dear Christie”:  https://ahundredfallingveils.com/2017/05/22/dear-christie/   [2] Scientific American June 2017 issue, “The Meaning of Lichen”

Collage:  Raven from Bryce Canyon, UT.  Lichen from Red Corral Ranch, TX.

Tangle

September 17, 2015.  I have been entranced recently with visual symbols of energy flow – specifically looking at an old favorite, Yin/Yang, and pondering how that and the Trinity Knot might relate.  I turned to collaging to give my left brain a break.  As often happens working with imagery, a surprise “flew in” and rearranged everything.

The image below is created with modified found art.  I am grateful to whoever created the raven image so perfectly reflecting what my inner eye observed.  Symbols span a sky I photographed at The White Shaman Preserve – sacred space frequently visited, on the lower Pecos River near Comsock,Texas.

Why get tangled up in symbols?  I’m taking a class that called for a reflection paper on Trinity.   I don’t really have much affinity with Trinity.  I was stumped.  In the process of wrestling with unknowns, I stumbled on a delightful video of Maia Scott talking about how we “see”.  I know Maia from several years of The Labyrinth Society annual gatherings, where she is a striking presence with her guide dog – not only walking labyrinths with limited vision, but creating them for others to walk!  Listening to Maia, I concluded in this case, I’d be ahead “seeing” Trinity visually (through imagery) in lieu of wordy (doctrinal) concepts.

(The paper, including image and poem, is at last complete and submitted.  WHEW!)

Maia’s personal site (and the video): www.maiamaia.us  She’s the keynote speaker at this year’s TLS gathering – Waycross, Indiana (October 16-18):  http://labyrinthsociety.org/annual-gathering

Facing West and Patience

August 17, 2015.  I am home again from travels that took me away from the daily humming norm of to-dos.   Time at 9000 feet elevation (think cool) dry-camping (think frugal water use) surely shifts one’s focus.  Up above Cloudcroft NM there is no hurry.  Time to sit, reflect … write a couple of poems!

I’m including two poems in this post – both written in the presence of the pictured remains of a pine.  The term for a fractured tree of this sort is “snag”.  This one certainly snagged my attention.  I found it while wandering on day two, and it became my little sanctuary for daily journal sitting.