I recently attended Utne Magazine's Womens Retreat. It was a fantastic three days of art, dance, music, and movement. The theme was Reimagining Ourselves. One of the excecises was to find something in nature that spoke to you.
I took off on a great walk in the Texas Hill Country waiting for something beautiful to call out at me. I kept noticing big rocks. Finally, I stopped a picked a rock weighing about 5 pounds. I wondered what this rock had to say to me. Bored with the whole affair I continued on my walk. After about 5 minutes, I noticed this rock was really slowing me down.
Here is the poem I wrote:
I am moving heavy rocks down,
return to the Earth.
I am rising inward on the mossy path,
arched, sticky, wide mouthed.
I inherit the river, the branches, the Earth.
Birds pulse gracefully.
Wings want to fly.
I am body.
I am Earth.
No longer heavy,
dancing like a snowflake.
I give birth.
