Where do you find the sacred?

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Wilderness Poems

This weekend I able to spend time in the mountains and woods at St Dorothy's Camp in Sonoma County on an Artist's and Writer's retreat. It was an amazing way to go deeper into the season of Lent. As I walked through the redwoods, I thought and prayed about what it means to follow the Spirit into the wilderness and I looked for the way that God speaks through the wild landscapes of trails and mountains and tangled forests. I wanted to share some of the writing (always a continued work in progress) that came from my weekend away.

Wilderness Poems

I.
As this ground cracks herself open
to make way for such insistent sprouts,
does she know what a miracle she is offering?
Does that dark, fertile soil know
she is a womb giving birth to new life
with each cresting moment?
Would such knowledge
make this eternal labor
any more or less
miraculous?

II.
This earth is a body being broken.
She is split and torn
as determined roots
push their way
through her toughened flesh.
She is both fractured and strong.
I come to this wild place
seeking gentleness
But what I find is
sometimes life, like birth,
is a kind of violence.

III.
This earth is God's body.
Her gentle curves willing to endure
both our uglinesses and our brutalities.
I know no other word
for this but love.
Her embrace persists
through my many rebellions.
When I come back to her
barefooted, like a child,
she receives me into her
as though I have at last
come home.

1 comment:

  1. Wow. Katie, these are beautiful. I love your voice and style. Thank you for sharing.

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