dogtrax

Tracking in the mud debris from river and glade; Oh, the mess I made

Feet in sand, ocean waves beckon in rhythmic song; currents carry me

… the rivers

will set their stones and ribbons at your door if only

you’ll let the world soften you with its touching

from Reasons To Live Ruth Awad

–

Raw sound bathes the boy, the ripples of river on stone, he submerges himself, nearly but not really, alone, his mind, a million miles from home

Line borrowed from the collection: You Are Here: Poetry In The Natural World Edited by Ada Limon

the moon mistaken for a hole in the sky

from If Fire Jake Skeets

–

fingers in the stars, then,

the galaxy, a tapestry of etchings

I’ve begun to come unwoven again

filling space with words and dreams

Line borrowed from the collection: You Are Here: Poetry In The Natural World Edited by Ada Limon

I only use words like stones because we are far away

from Close-Knit Flower Sack by Cedar Sigo

—

We used to search riverbeds and shore lines for the flattest of stone, the thinnest of story, just smoothed-out words, in order to skip across the surface as if what we were saying was lighter than air, but no longer - now we spend time on the odd rocks with strange angles, the kind that makes a distinct sound one rarely forgets, before plunging under water

Line borrowed from the collection: You Are Here: Poetry In The Natural World Edited by Ada Limon

make small steps. in this wild place there are signs of life everywhere

from Lullaby For The Grieving (at the Sipsey River) by Ashley M. Jones

–

slow go slow this we know but always forgotten - that the wild places wild spaces have stories to tell, poems composed beneath roots, reverberations of a turning Earth, cursed to forget the role of reader: slow go slow this we know

Line borrowed from the collection: You Are Here: Poetry In The Natural World Edited by Ada Limon

This humidity lingers on the lawn, a cat dozing through the day

for Algot

The sky is a century with no windows

from To A Blossoming Saguaro by Eduardo C. Corral

—

lost count long ago of how many rainstorms arrived after you wandered the windows left open, too, time just dribbling in with the wind, letting rotations moisten the frame around which the world might be watched, one tear after the other year until the canvas of sky disappeared entirely

Line borrowed from the collection: You Are Here: Poetry In The Natural World Edited by Ada Limon

whose fingers clench the gift of discovery

whose eyes drift towards an open sky

whose streets take in all of the wanderers

whose kindness never seems to pass us by

inspired by “Be Kind,” by by Joe & Terry Malesky Sioux Falls Sculpture Walk https://sculpturewalksiouxfalls.com/sculptures/2024/be-kind/ via NWP Write Across America: South Dakota

A little too late now to wonder whether the wind will take what it needs

We've gone to seed

Loosening our insides to release soft strands of whatever it is that leads us believe

We've gone to seed

inspired by “Gone To Seed,” by Nathan Johansen Sioux Falls Sculpture Walk https://sculpturewalksiouxfalls.com/sculptures/2024/gone-to-seed/ via NWP Write Across America: South Dakota