Mammalian
A poem
Like throwing pottery on a wheel
her hands
Soft, strong like
Fingerprints on the red clay like Mycenaean Greece
She speaks to reynard foxes amidst
the quercitron pines
Lifting
Singing
chlorophyll in her veins
Growing ever upward towards
A cumulonimbus cloud
Warm wind kisses her cheeks
silica quartz sandstone
Blue Bunting sings Prussian blues
Kingfisher kli-kli-kli-kli-kli call
beluga whale—
canaries of the sea
opus—
Chicago Sinfonietta
stray dog howls at the
amaranthine moon
gekkonidae Eublepharidae
Night vision Walterinnesia aegyptia
Eudyptula minor pajaro-niño
okapi Okapia johnstoni
Smiles at the folly of humans
Dreaming they are the
Only ones.
Josef Váchal - Pilgrimage of Little Elves, 1911.
“It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them. I was so preposterously serious in those days… Lightly, lightly – it’s the best advice ever given me…So throw away your baggage and go forward. There are quicksands all about you, sucking at your feet, trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity and despair. That’s why you must walk so lightly. Lightly my darling…”
Aldous Huxley - Island
A basic principle of Lao-tse’s teaching was that this Way of the Universe could not be adequately described in words, and that it would be insulting both to its unlimited power and to the intelligent human mind to attempt to do so. Still, its nature could be understood, and those who cared the most about it, and the life from which it was inseparable, understood it best.
Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh
Credit: Penguin Random House
Hoff wrote the book at night and on weekends while working as a tree pruner in the Portland Japanese Garden in Washington Park in Portland, Oregon.[2]
LATEST FROM CHICAGO SINFONIETTA
“The beluga whales’ chirps, whistles and clicks were met with the melody of orchestral music on a crisp spring morning. Chicago Sinfonietta joined Shedd Aquarium for a musical collaboration to highlight the ancient and enduring connection between music and nature.
Often called the canaries of the sea, beluga whales can produce an array of vocalizations. It was these distinct, expressive noises that sparked the Chicago Sinfonietta’s visit.”
New poems! Thank you for being here. Feel free to share with other poets and artists! Restack, celebrate and bloom! 🪻🪷🌼🌻🌷🌹
Special thanks to Jolene Handy Ruth Stroud Sondra Imperati Muffetry and Bonnie Solomon Amy Brown Teneia Sanders Tererai Trent Amy Gabrielle Anne Lamott Jane Ratcliffe Jocelyn Lovelle Laura Pendell Suleika Jaouad
