Wild Poems

Rain. Rain? In Minnesota?!? In winter??!!??

As puddles deepened, the temperature fell.
Clumps of slush froze in place.
Long stretches of ice now shape the terrain.
Even weeks later,
a simple walk requires full attention and a little luck.
Snow has eluded us, so we look out on ice and
patches of frozen grass.

I’m not sure who […]

If you live in a part of the world where,
looking out your window right now,
you see leaves in radiant shades
of crimson and saffron,
then, by any means necessary,
get yourself outside.

Look how sunlight or the muted tones of grey
make each leaf glow as they hold fast
or twist in the wind,
drifting and sailing […]

We all have our ways.
Things we do, think, say, or feel
that help us get present again
when we’ve drifted far into the murky waters
of worrying about what’s to come or what has been.

For me, it’s often tactile—
breathing in soft fur
working in the garden
splitting wood
paddling, hiking, biking
rich conversation
the call of an owl
the […]

There are times of pure joy.
Those moments that fill us up
where nothing else is present
but that sense of light
flowing through and around us.

It’s glorious.
It bolsters and renews our spirits.
Grounding us firmly in the moment.
Reminding us to revel and to savor.

And…it’s rare.
Because most of the time
we hold a complex slurry
of emotions, […]

Clouds circled, sluggish with snow, in the April sky.
Left in its wake was a white blanket 15 inches deep.
It was a marvel, with winds sending flakes sideways
–even upward–
no telling where they’d land.

It snowed for days.
And while many grumbled,
no one could argue the exhilaration
of getting to behold such Wildness.

We dug ourselves […]

On the Equinox
the sun rises exactly in the east
travels through the sky for 12 hours
and sets exactly in the west.

On the Equinox
this is the motion of the Sun
through the sky
for everyone on earth.

Every place on earth
at the same latitude
regardless of hemisphere
experiences the same balance
of day and night
on just 2 days […]