Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Ode to Freedom



This is a beautiful uTube sponsored by PETA2 (the youth activist branch of PETA). They also put out a tee shirt on the "Ode to Freedom" theme. Inspired by the concept, I made my own Ode. It is not a classical ode but it is done in metric verse.


An Ode to Freedom

 

Soft grass upon the hillside grows,

it blooms in gold and green

 

The worms below will till the soil,

all life on earth to feed

 

The mother cow takes sweetness in,

to meet her baby’s need

 

No grasping hand to steal her milk,

no predatory deed

 

From worm to cow to calf to me,

all creatures may be free

 

When we who take so heedlessly

allow all life to be

 

In concert and, by divine right,

exist in Liberty.

 

 

Friday, July 19, 2013

Sunrise Trail - Poem


Sunny sky

Crystals of blue ocean water

Low tide

Sulfur smell lingers with salt

 

Rugosa Roses

White and pink with garters of morning glories

Their smell

Mixed with the tidal stink

 

They complement each other-salt and sweet.

 

The growth

A tangle of primrose, dock, vetch

Valerian

It’s smell a calming haze

 

A turtle

Shovels through a tidal stream

Her shell

The same brown color as the beach

 

Six crows

Rise slowly from a billowing elm tree

They float-wings still

Suspended

By nothing but belief

 

Winter

A distant memory

Summer

At its peak

 

The memory of one makes the other more sweet.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

I am a writer

Such audacious words. I have always felt uncomfortable saying them out loud, and I know so many other women have been, as well. My participation in women's writing communities like the International Women's Writing Guild (IWWG) and the A Room of her Own (AROHO) foundation has shown me that I definitely am not alone.

If there is one thing to learn from the IWWG or AROHO communities it is that women ned to write. It is an important gift to ourselves and the world. It doesn't matter what the topic is. The important thing is to engage, reflect, and reciprocate.

So many women writers seem to share common insecurities. We don't feel confident to call ourselves writers, sometimes even after publication. And heaven forbid we have lacked the time, finances, resources, & blind luck to find ourselves in the pages of professionally done books or magazines.

We feel clumsy in our efforts. We absorb every fleck of criticism and repell encouragement as polite or insincere. We negatively compare ourselves to other writers-especially other women writers. We question and negate our own voices.

But, as I read on a fellow woman writer's blog once, (I'm paraphrasing and I'm afraid I can't recall the origin)

"We can't stop writing out of fear of failure. The only way to fail is to not write."

Our voices can only strengthen and purify through the work and the time spent writing. We all have a perspective, and they all have value. They are contributions to the present and to the future. For our strong voices will inspire the girls of the future.

We have to keep going. We can make the world better for ourselves, our sisters/mothers/grandmothers/daughters, our non-human relations, and the world.

That is why-say it with me-

I AM A WRITER.


IWWG:  http://iwwg.org/
AROHO: http://www.aroho.org/

My Article "Finding our Balance" in Circle Sanctuary Magazine

It shows my blogging muscles desperately need to be flexing that I never thought to post here that I was published in the Spring 2011 Issue of Circle Sanctuary Magazine. The article was about finding the time for spiritual practice in a busy day. Digital downloads are still available at:

http://www.circlesanctuary.org/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=44

Circle may also be printing my article on Vegan Pagans in the upcoming issue. Fingers crossed, we'll see.

Summer in Maine

Well, it's been a long time since I blogged here. Part of this is due to a new blog my bestie Gwen and I have been doing. But I still love to go back through this blog and remember the past. It truly is a digital diary and something I enjoy sharing with friends. It also holds some fun old stories that I wrote and I enjoy looking at from time to time. I have been writing more lately and I really am more committed than ever to being a writer, no matter what. It doesn't matter what interests me or what directions I am being pulled in at any given moment. Writing is my perspective. More on that later. For now, though, I wanted to share some pics of my recent wanderings along the Downeast Maine Coast that I am lucky enough to call home. And feel free to check out our other blog at: http://veganwiccan.blogspot.com/




The Sunrise Trail View in Downtown Machias

A view of Machias

Sunrise Trail, Machias

Hazy Low Tide in Blue Hill Bay

Jasper Beach, Machiasport


                                             Jasper Beach

Blue Hill Bay