Avocet The Weekly
“Nature, the manifestation of divinity.” - Joseph Campbell
Issue No. 19
| April 24 - 2013
Weekly Avocet - Issue No. 19
The Last Natural Beach Forgotten snapshots in the older man’s head; a beach of sun bleached white sand, wild sea grass flogging the dunes, dark green pines sheltering small cottages against the times when nature curses. The man remembers the tingling cold salt water surf biting his toes. A war ended; developers carved plastic mediocrity in the name of progress onto the unarmed landscape. Across the land banknote sandcastles multiplied in the investor’s portfolio of soulless assets. The isolated beach of oil soaked sand is a measured mile vacant of condominiums, boutiques, and kitchy gift shops. An elephant-high fence bars intruders from the remaining sea grass kept alive by chemical infusion. The small boy holds onto his grandfather’s hand as they approach the ticket booth. A painted sign declares; THE LAST NATURAL BEACH IN THE CAROLINAS. Admission $6.50, children $3.00 “All the beaches were like this once, Cody. Wouldn’t you like to see it?” the grandfather asks in a proud voice. “Then can we go to McDonald’s, Gramps?” Ray Foreman clarkreview@earthlink.net
“Poetry is, above all, a singing art of natural and magical connection because, though it is born out of one’s person’s solitude, it has the ability to reach out and touch in a humane and warmly illuminating way the solitude, even the loneliness, of others. That is why, to me, poetry is one of the most vital treasures that humanity possesses; it is a bridge between separated souls.” Brendan Kennelly -2-
Weekly Avocet - Issue No. 19
Spring again
It’s spring again when guggling brooks upstage the teeming earth when buds address the trees sprouting, sprouting toward heaven It›s spring again when birds return to render their octaval concerts when the air is scented with blossoms preening their way into nature It›s spring again when days are longer -- The prolonging of joy or woe
Juanita Torrence-Thompson poetrytownjtt@gmail.com
“Adapt, migrate or die.”
-3-
Weekly Avocet - Issue No. 19
Happenstance: On the day of the trinity, the divine providence of Middle Creek resides in a trio of painted turtles. Not Father, Son & Holy Ghost. Not Jesus, Joseph & Mary. Not Larry, Moe & Curly (tho’ I’d take a stooge over false gods any day). Better these sun-dazed ebony specimens of Chrysemys picta, of polished carapaces in reptilian perfection, inscrutable, remaining otherwise anonymous, content to answer prayers in the marsh.
Karla Linn Merrifield klmerrifield@yahoo.com
“To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug.” - Helen Keller
-4-
Weekly Avocet - Issue No. 19
Well Hidden Snooping under ivy, curly and thick, we disturb a sparrow’s nest, no bigger than a measuring cup full of fidget. Tiny gray heads tilt upward with eyes shut tight– tongues fluttering like monks in ecstatic prayer, offering their hearts to this day that has begun with us eavesdropping on their cloistered life– their sole contemplation.
First published in The Victorian Violet Press Journal
M.J.Iuppa mjiuppa@rochester.rr.com
“As you sit on the hillside, or lie prone under the trees of the forest, or sprawl wet-legged by a mountain stream, the great door, that does not look like a door, opens.” - Stephen Graham
-5-
Weekly Avocet - Issue No. 19
Skiffing Stones in Ireland The boy wades into the shallows, pants rolled to his knees, the back of his body sculpted in light and shade. In contrapposto, he calls across time, and I see the Greek Discus Thrower, that ease and expertise. With shoulders slanted to the universe, he twists on his own axis, movement barely perceptible. Only the voice of the skiffing stone, its ripples and eddies across the surface of the River Liffey breaks the quiet, but for now what moves me most is not his muscled beauty or intense focus, but the knowing he holds within to make a stone walk on water.
Jo Balistreri joeybfl@gmail.com
“Good heavens, of what uncostly material is our earthly happiness composed... if we only knew it. What incomes have we not had from a flower, and how unfailing are the dividends of the seasons.” - James Russell Lowell
-6-
Weekly Avocet - Issue No. 19
Bursting I know that it will do what it has done every single year since I was born And in countless eons of springs that came before my lifetime.
It will Break forth Bust open Explode outward Pulse madly Wave wildly And dance with abandon.
Same old thing. Bring it on!
Lynne Oakes lynneoakes@aol.com
“Honor the sacred. Honor the Earth, our Mother. Honor the Elders. Honor all with whom we share the Earth:- Four-leggeds, two-leggeds, winged ones, swimmers, crawlers, plant and rock people. Walk in balance and beauty.� - Native American Elder
-7-
Weekly Avocet - Issue No. 19
Sweet Song This Evening I stand outside this early evening in late March. All life trumpets “hooray”. Still light - the earmark of spring. Entertained by a neighbor›s family of sparrows. Discordant noise, internal disputes, unnerves my Labrador. Yet, we welcome the busyness in the bushes. Raucous sound the crow, naturally. The air above reveals their acrobatics, swoops, circles, dips so close. Feathers brush air. Their need for recognition, palpable.
Center stage locates itself across the road, source of a bird’s song I’ve never heard, in trees I’ve never seen. This solo serenade’s unique notes, string across cool winds, attach themselves to my winter worn, weary soul. I felt air shift to raven black. The poignant melody began to unravel a tight cord around my heart. Sensed song encircle us the lyrics, nature’s truth. “The seasons have changed!” We sang, and sang and sang!
Ria Meade olympia5@verizon.net
“Build therefore your own world.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
-8-
Weekly Avocet - Issue No. 19 So far only two of us have dared take the Tree Tunnel challenge.
No time to waste After a long, whiny winter,
opening and closing
you want me to take you
as if at any moment
where it is warm so we
they might take flight
can walk arm in arm down
and the bright light
the length of the tree tunnel
of the rising sun
of cherry blossoms in full
would be upon us,
bloom as the sweet breath
but for now we walk
of the spring breeze
in the slight shadows
carries the rich rose scent,
that the tunnel provides
bringing an ease to
for us, with the sound
the coming dawn;
of hidden birds
we walk along the avenue
sweetly serenading us,
only aware of one another,
we breathe in deep
like being in a cocoon.
knowing in a week the
Unlike winter that makes
blossoms will disappear.
waking up a cruel chore, early this morn we were
Charles Portolano cportolano@hotmail.com
out of the hotel’s front door with the spring breeze making the leaves of these cherry blossom trees appear to be millions
“Loveliest of trees, the cherry now / Is hung with bloom along the bough.”- A. E. Housman
of pink butterfly wings
-9-
Weekly Avocet - Issue No. 19
April 15, 2013 Much like the rare Dragon Blood tree red sap spilled among the spectators, the trees’ umbrella shapes, even from this great distance, wanting to materialize and shade the victims, runners, crowds…
The local inhabitants of Yemin, where these trees survive through the centuries, use the resin as a cure-all. Would the bloodshed in Boston, like these trees’ resin, be a cure-all to heal and sustain the human spirit.
Wherever tragedies bring forth a caring oneness in hurrying to help others in need more good than evil shines through our diverse world. Ongoing goodness will last as long as these magnificent trees. Lois Batchelor Howard poetlois@live.com
“When all the trees have been cut down, when all the animals have been hunted, when all the waters are polluted, when all the air is unsafe to breathe, only then will you discover you cannot eat money.” - Cree Prophecy
-10-
ONE of our ONE own From
of our own
T. Kilgore and Paul Bach, Jr. have sent in a wonderful interview of the great Lawrence Ferlinghetti, great reading.
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W
e hope we provoked you to thought; that you leave having experienced a complete emotional response to the poetry. I want to thank our poets for sharing their work with us this week. And, “Thank you for reading, dear reader!” Again, if you haven’t yet, send in one nature Spring-themed poem (please, only one) please do! Please remember it is one poem, per poet, per season for The Weekly Avocet’s submissions. Be well, see you next Wednesday Charles Portolano Editor of the Avocet, a Journal of Nature Poetry
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© Soheyl Dahi, 2010
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CALL for SUBMISSIONS The Weekly Avocet every Wednesday, an e-mail of Nature Poetry • Please send only one poem, per poet, per season. Let’s do spring-themed poetry now. • Please no more than 38 lines per poem. • Please use single spaced lines. • Please use the Times New Roman 12pt. font. • Please send your submission to angeldec24@hotmail.com • Please remember, previously published poems are wanted. • Please always put your name and e-mail address under your poem. Thank you.
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