I am a student of the woods,

daughter of the earth

My clocks are set to the rhythm of the wind

I dwell in the currents of love

My inheritance is the wisdom of the skies

And … I want for naught

©heartsdeesire

The earth is my new employer.  My job now is to look for the signs of Spring.
And no, I’m not going to tell you that it’s a tough job but somebody’s gotta do it.

I’ve been asked just to notice and this is what I observed:

here the green grass awake from its dormancy
and in need of a trim

here the heather bushes: bright pink, lilac and
creamy white eruptions of color

there the rhodies, blossoms contained in tight buds
not even hinting yet at their spring finery

and finally
a single
yellow
dandelion
in a field
by a pond

whispering
the promise
of another season
and a new beginning.

Image Locale

The Trees

Do you think of them as decoration?

Think again.

Here are maples, flashing.
And here are the oaks, holding on all winter
to their dry leaves.
And here are the pines, that will never fail,
until death, the instruction to be green.
And here are the willows, the first
to pronounce a new year.

May I invite you to revise your thoughts about them?
Oh, Lord, how we are all for invention and
advancement!
But I think
it would do us good if we would think about
these brothers and sisters, quietly and deeply.

The trees, the trees, just holding on
to the old, holy ways.

~Mary Oliver~
Evidence: Poems by Mary Oliver

the beauty of the trees

the softness of the air

the fragrance of the grass

speaks to me

and my heart soars

~Chief Dan George~
Opening Ceremonies Vancouver Olympics 2010

stop

the turning wheels of your mind

look

the miracle of life is happening all around you

walk

out that door with a heart filled with wonder

breathe

it all in

you

are alive

feel

the rhythm of a heart pulsing within you

you

are a part of this miracle

here, now

bask in the splendor of it all

Yes, I’ve gone and done it again.  Another found poem.  This time instead of contrasting two poets together, I have taken one poet: Mary Oliver and pulled pieces from 8 different poems to bring together a brand new poem.  I’ve taken no more than two to four lines from each poem.  Each verse is from a different poem and in a few cases a pronoun has been changed.  After this found poem, I cite the poems that were used to create it.

Every morning I walk softly and with forward glances
down to the ponds and through the pinewoods.

I have gone every day to the same woods,
not waiting, exactly, just lingering.

I have thought sometimes that
something – I can’t name it -
watches as I walk

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”

Later, lying half-asleep under
the blankets, I watch
while the doe, glittering with rain, steps
under the wet slabs of the pines

These are the woods I love,
where the secret name
of every death is life again – a miracle

Someday I’ll live in the sky.
Meanwhile the house of my life is this green world.

In the book of the earth it is written:
nothing can die.

~Mary Oliver~

One
The Place I Want to Get Back To
Beans
When I Am Among the Trees
Clapp’s Pond
Skunk Cabbage
Boundaries
Ghosts

The snow
began here
this morning and all day
continued, its white
rhetoric everywhere
calling us back to why, how,
whence such beauty and what
the meaning; such
an oracular fever! flowing
past windows, an energy it seemed
would never ebb, never settle
less than lovely! and only now,
deep into night,
it has finally ended.
The silence
is immense,
and the heavens still hold
a million candles, nowhere
the familiar things:
stars, the moon,
the darkness we expect
and nightly turn from. Trees
glitter like castles
of ribbons, the broad fields
smolder with light, a passing
creekbed lies
heaped with shining hills;
and though the questions
that have assailed us all day
remain — not a single
answer has been found –
walking out now
into the silence and the light
under the trees,
and through the fields,
feels like one.

~Mary Oliver~
excerpted from American Primitive

Those who are familiar with Mary Oliver’s poetry know that she has a deep and abiding love of nature.  It’s one that I share, hence I am often drawn to her poetry.  At the conclusion of the poem, the statement: “feels like one”, I believe she is saying it feels like an answering.  Said another way, amidst the quiet majestic beauty and stillness of nature there are no unanswered questions.  Immersed in the wonder around you suddenly there are no questions left.  It is a union with nature that is so brimming with the wholeness that you and everything else is.  What’s left but to happily lose yourself inside that world, devoid of questions now, awash in a knowing and an ineluctable sense of how incredible it is to bear witness to this amazing world and yourself in it.

a blustery autumn day today
the last of the maples
the cherries and the stately alders
releasing their leaves

they compel me to set free
the old that hangs on

in favor of what newness
may blossom
from my limbs

©heartsdeesire

Follow your bliss, those were the immortal words of Joseph Campbell and oft quoted by Abraham Hicks.  I love its simple message coupled with Abraham’s message that appreciation is what brings us closest to our true nature and Source Energy.   G.K. Chesterton also said: “praise should be the permanent pulsation of the soul”.  I love that quote.  To appreciate, to praise is to follow my bliss.

I’m listening to the cliff note’s version of “Happy For No Reason”, these mp3′s are put out by Philosopher’s Notes.  I highly recommend them.  Happy For No Reason presents several ideas.  The one I like the most is giving out awards daily.  The best cloud award of the day.  The most beautiful flower award of the day.  The kindest driver award today.  The nicest customer service person today.  Or how about this: the biggest raindrop that plopped on my head today; hello, I live in Seattle after all :).  As I was walking outside today, I thought of the prettiest bird song award.  The loveliest red maple leaf award.  The best dog tail wag today.  The best Autumn season ever award.  The most gleeful children’s voices award today.  The funnest laugh of the day.  The chubbiest bumble bee award.  You get the idea, you can tailor it to your likes and make it your own.

The idea is so much about appreciation.  I remember when I first started out with the teachings of Abraham and all I did was practice appreciation.  Talk about an easy method for turning your boat downstream.  What I loved about Happy For No Reason is that it reminded me how sometimes the simplest stuff is overlooked in the busyness of the day.  I forget how easy it is to turn my attention to the things I love and appreciate.  As I get back in the flow of what is the natural pulsation of my soul, I remember again just how good it feels to love, to praise, to appreciate.

Happy For No Reason also quotes a parable that was part of one my very first blog posts here entitled Feeding the Lover, have a look at it via the link, if you like.  It’s good wisdom even today.

Thanks to Ritama for recommending Philosopher’s Notes and Ritama you get my Best Not-Yet-Seen-In-The-Physical Fellow Blogger Award today!  How is that for a mouthful?! :)

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