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