All things belonging to the earth will never change—the leaf, the blade, the flower, the wind that cries and sleeps and wakes again, the trees whose stiff arms clash and tremble in the dark. . . .all things proceeding from the earth to seasons, all things that lapse and change and come again upon the earth—these things will always be the same, for they come up from the earth that never changes, they go back into the earth that lasts forever. Only the earth endures, but it endures forever. . . Under the pavements trembling like a pulse, under the buildings trembling like a cry, under the waste of time, under the hoof of the beast above the broken bones of cities, there will be something growing like a flower, something bursting from the earth again, forever deathless, faithful, coming into life again like April.”
From You Can’t Go Home Again by Thomas Wolfe, Quoted in Friends of Silence
The Stars Fell Through My Window Tonight
By Lauretta Santarossa
The stars fell through my window tonight
Astonished
I got up
They were everywhere
Calling me
Shiny bright and brilliant
Peeping through the pines
Playing peek-a-boo with the clouds
Scattering diamonds everywhere
Such largesse
How could I be so lucky
To be so loved by this good earth.
10 Simple Things to do to Celebrate Earth Day
• Plant something
• Ride your bike
• Let your voice be heard
• Attend an event
• Buy reuseable bags
• Use a refillable water bottle
• Get produce from a local farmer’s market
• Shop smart for clothes
Quoted from website
“Practice Resurrection”
By Maggie Fenton
This is the last line of one of my favorite poems, Manifesto: “The Mad Farmer Liberation Front” from the book The Country of Marriage by Wendell Berry. If you haven’t read it, it isn’t what you might think and I believe it is a good manifesto for these times. Many years ago when I was a ‘church’ person, newly minted with my Masters in Theological studies, I took the advice to ‘afflict the comfortable” all too seriously and read this as the opening to an adult class I was teaching during the Christian holy week. As you can imagine, the response was mixed.
I make it a point to re-read this poem sometime during spring every year. This year, it seems to ring truer than ever before. I ponder what it means to “practice resurrection” and as Crone, I suspect we do this daily even if we don’t think of it as such. As our bodies change and remind us daily of our mortality, as we learn of more of our peers who have made their last journey, as we watch world-wide political upheaval and the destruction of our planet, we know that death will come in many forms. It must.
So I go looking for the resurrection. I hear it in bird songs; the warblers have returned and some are passing through on their way north to Lake Erie and beyond where they will summer. The wood thrushes are back serenading with the most melodious bird song on the planet. Crocus have come and gone and I finally have some tulips blooming. The blueberries are budding after a winter where we thought we would lose many. Soon the dogwood and redbud will bloom pushing buds from branches that looked dead last week. The woods are greening; wildflowers are blooming and soon I will be searching for morels. Young colts, goats and lambs are frisking about the fields. My local dairy farmer posted a picture of a newborn calf this morning so he could ‘share the joy!’ Even my old dogs are friskier, answering the earth’s rebirth in their own way. I sometimes go out and just raise my face to the sun and the warmth, taking in all the sounds and smells and energy of resurrection. I take off my shoes and walk in the newly green grass, feeling the wet earth below where soil scientists tell us a mystery is going on that we still don’t and may never understand. It is the mystery of resurrection.
How are you practicing?
Grants Available
Every year the Board has been financially able to grant registration fees for several Crones. We realize that coming to Crones Counsel is a big financial commitment and having the registration fee provided may make the difference between someone coming or not. We can’t cover transportation, hotel or food costs. The grant applications are now available on our website and will be open until August 1. If you or someone you know would like to apply, please click here to get more information or to submit your application.
Poetry from the Colorado Crones Circle of Wise Women
Last month the Colorado Crones Circle of Wise Women had a poetry workshop led by Susan Horst, one of our Crone members. We read our favorite poems and actually wrote some poems. Here they are. We hope you enjoy them.
Together
Beneath my skin are mysteries
where blood flows
to and from my heart
and touches parts within.
Our unspoken truths
feed each other.
Let’s sit together and let our hearts speak in unison.
By Barb Test
Realness
If you tell me who you are
it will never be as true as when you show me who you are.
By Barb Test
Emily (Dickenson)
She is sitting at her desk
looking out her window
And letting the words
come to her.
Emily
you receive so well.
By Barb Test
*******
WHAT’S HAPPENING?!
The buzz is there, no matter what I do.
The underground rumble, earth-waves not just passing through –
but shaking apart the structures no matter what I do.
Can’t stop it
Can’t plan it
Can’t tell it nothin’, no matter what I do.
Give me my nice tidy existence – I loved that, it’s true.
I was happy in a pattern, busy, busy, DO!
Holding together all the structures of all I thought was true.
Can’t hold it
Can’t keep it
Can’t make it work, no longer is it true.
Let it go, I’m screaming, trying to aim true.
But I seem to miss that mark,
a moving target now, no matter what I do.
The old structures crumble away,
Can’t maintain it
Can’t fix it
Gotta let it go, and move on, and to my true self be true.
By Susan Horst
*******
What’s in my Heart Today
What’s in my heart, Now
How can I express it, How
Center is light aglow
Fear, afraid of the future winds blow
Dark clouds creep near
I fight to listen and hear
Sweetness, love, excitement
Adventures and stories abound
Come on everyone, gather around
Darkness goes away
A tiny light will illuminate
What’s in my heart today
By Camille Richardson Lipe
*******
I hunkered down to write a poem
As at a table I sat.
But nothing came. My pen went dry.
‘Cause I couldn’t find my hat.
I scratched my head as I tried to think
Where I had left it at.
The bank? Heck no. The movie show?
Or at the laundromat?
Now, I’m used to winning ribbons
With the poems that my pen spat.
My words flow out like blackened blood,
‘Less I can’t find my hat.
********
There is nothing like a book.
There are
computers and
tablets and
iPods and
iPhones and
YouTube videos and
and and and . . .
But . . .
There is
nothing, nothing, nothing
Like
The look of
The feel of
The weight of
The smell of
The yellowness of
A real book
By Virginia L. Small
*********
Joy
Sitting in the sun
Eyes closed
A bookmark holding my place
The slight breeze making the wind chimes sing
The scent of lilac
The feel of the soft grass under my feet
Imagination tickling my dream
My Garden
Flowers and fairies
Green and gold
All colors blazing
Scents and sounds
Bees hovering
I sit and gaze, or meditate
The elements near by
Wind chimes to the east
Candles to the south
A fountain to the west
Crystals to the north
All around me
Encompassing
Encasing
Embracing
Surrounding me with love
by annie lehto
******
Just Bring it On
Peace, joy, a sense of wonder
Comes to me each day as I surrender.
I’m in love with life
The joys, the sorrows, the hope, the strife.
Fill me up with more, more and more!
How much more can I take?!
I don’t know, just bring it on.
By Suzanne Gruba