Thursday, September 1, 2011

Learn the Flowers


Sometimes, the news gets me down. A story on the despoilment of a special place, the data on our changing climate, the latest report on the decline of a rare plant or animal, or just a political update can be discouraging. Usually, time outside will cure me of the malaise and give me renewed inspiration. Recently, this poem helped a lot.
For the Children by Gary Snyder
The rising hills, the slopes,
of statistics
lie before us.
The steep climb
of everything going up,
up, as we all
go down.
In the next century
or the one beyond that,
they say,
are valley, pastures,
we can meet there in peace
if we make it.
To climb these coming crests
one word to you, to
you and your children:
stay together
learn the flowers
go lightly


Gary Snyder poem published in "Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril"
photos by Anna Owens

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