Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Break the Chains - A poem


Painting by Mike Worrall


















Break the Chains

On a pedestal
barefoot
captured in a maze
goddess sits with eyes closed
deep healing sounds of the cello soar
nature lies beyond this entrapment

lost in the turnings
trapped souls lost
search for meaning

she sings
listen

in the song are secrets
needed for escape
from these boundaries

hear her song
liberation
freedom
breaking civilization's chains


Copywrite DesertDreamer

Monday, December 19, 2011

This is My Planet Too - A Poem


An image I created based on a photo of my shadow.




















This is My Planet Too
Poem based on an Interview with Derrick Jensen.


Impending collapse
car culture running out of oil
nowhere to retreat
living in an abstract society
few have real life skills
are we doomed?

Collective denial
environmental crisis
on the news we hear instead
latest fashion
celebrity gossip
corporations control the planet
and you want to talk about sports?

Culture based on destroying the land
culture based on using up non renewable resources
culture based on a lie
the earth is a finite place
a life based on infinite resources cannot last
and you sit here watching a "reality" show
did you learn about reality?

The system is rigged against those who love the land
against those who care about future life
when environmentalists use an existing law to stop the destruction
the laws are changed by those in power
what meaning are laws if they are changed when convenient?

we live in a destructive culture
we live in a blind culture
to quiet us they feed us bright green lies
telling us solar panels and windmills
will bring relief to the environmental crisis
Did you see the open pit mine?

We will need more of those pits in order to build the structures
blow up all the mountains to sake your thirst for power
is that better than a polluted sky?
do you like the world better without its surface beauty?
do you like the taste of contaminated water?

If you lived on your own planet I wouldn't care
but this is my planet, too
there are trees, bees, butterflies
flowers, birds, elephants
do all the living things need to sacrifice their home
so you can turn on your lights?

We have to stop killing the planet
We have to find another way to live
or we won't be living at all.



Copyright Desert Dreamer

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Earth Maiden - A Poem

 Image based on the Norse mythical eight legged horse named Sleipnir.
















Giant earth maiden
black hair twisted into braids
rusty double-edged sword
her skill unsurpassed

When she rode on the back of
an unusual eight legged steed *
we heard melodic thunder
saw clouds of a purple hue

when she ends her long ride
rain falls from a brilliant blue sky
clouds dance with a life of their own
accepting her natural ability
her art a mirror of the world

I have a sincere feeling
her technique of calling down the rain
is not appreciated

Twisted judgment
name her sorceress and witch in private
fake withering society
label our experience
trite Lilliputian hallucination
offer drugs to end enlightened visions

I saw a perceptive lavender sky
wistfully saying goodbye
axiomatic in her presence
she brings the rain

I see her lopsided smile
as she greets two ravens
who flap their wings overhead
uttering gnomic pronouncements
words that communicate disaster
With her departure
the land will become dry
no longer will we see
her unprompted show of strength
abstract dance of thunder and rain

I heard people jeering
mocking her style
incomprehensibilities of modern society
flipping coins instead of admiring reality
designing unending throwaway products
creating gadgets with flip-flop technology
thoughtlessly glib
spouting insults
to those who live in balance with nature
calling them fallacious and evil

With forbearance
she rides away



© 2011 Desert Dreamer

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Wrong Awakening - A poem











Wrong Awakening

Tower reflect human spirits

As objects
Trees crowded out
By buildings
Human minds connected
To machines

Metamorphosis of meaning
Dissolution of spirit
Death
Disintegration
Metropolis of decay

Trapped within their own creations
Even in sleep she cries out for release

Bright clouds bring hope for your escape
Concrete cracked by unseen armies
Roots of trees patiently strangle
Machines that were wrongly awakened
Freedom arrives slowly


© 2011 Desert Dreamer





Poem inspired by the artwork shown titled "Wrong Awakening" by Peter Gric.




Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Sunrise


Illuminate
inner
awareness


 


© 2011 Desert Dreamer




Monday, July 25, 2011

Heart of the Earth



Heart of the tortoise
caged breath
the earth still breathes




© 2011 Desert Dreamer

Monday, June 27, 2011

Season for Flying Things

It is the season
of flying things
birds
wasps
cicadas
desert wrens chattering
doves softly singing
repetitive evening song
human voices call in the distance
doves settle into trees
quail families running in orderly lines
newly hatched life following elders

Tarantula Hawk
biggest of wasps
most painful of stings
buzz by my head
orange wings on metallic blue body
lands on fragrant Tenaza flowers
sip nectar
air thick and heavy
monsoon moisture building
I am insignificant here

Tiny lizards new to the world
run near my feet
smaller than my smallest finger
hovering hummingbirds
silent night hawks soar by
here the desert envelopes me
singing of community
welcoming
woodpecker talks to her children
perched on the edge of a Saguaro hole
I am no different that the tiny striped lizard
searching for sustenance among the fallen leaves

Bats arrive in the form of dark delightful butterflies
fluttering and circling overhead
Mesquite seed pods fall to the ground at my feet
offering food
is this a gift for me?
I give thanks to the tree
collect the seed pods
no other place gives so much
could it be that this place has accepted me?
I often witness food
falling from trees and cactus
for each gift I give thanks
I know that by receiving these gifts
I become part of the desert community
what can a human give to the land in return?
why didn't my ancestors teach me how to properly accept these gifts?
trees are teaching me instead
knowledge has not been lost only silenced
more pods fall from the tree
as if the tree is asking me to stay
I tell the tree that I will return
next lesson to be learned while sleeping under protective branches
below the tree where many birds sleep


© 2011 Desert Dreamer



Mesquite tree

Monday, June 20, 2011

Closed My Eyes to See - a poem

At sunrise
closed my eyes to see
the world of sound
Cardinal calls out "Ether Ether"
blue water appears
ripples
expands
swirls
becomes a tree of many branches
ancient bark patterns moving
"Ether Ether"
again, the rippling waters
this time condensing into a face
I see eyes staring back at me
ancient face
eyes full of wisdom
"Ether Ether"
blue waters
a single eye approaches
engulfs
surrounds
darkness
I open my eyes


At the setting of the sun
I reach out
touch the leaves
smell earthy scents
hear quiet voices
plants speak quickly
words flashing by
so many expressions
noise buzzing
like children
crying out to be heard
speaking faster and faster
louder and louder
I get dizzy


At night
open eyes to hear
stars speak
whispers
secrets spoken slowly
long drawn out syllables
humming
sacred sound
"ohm"
universe sings
when I look at the stars







Art - Hand representing connection to the world #2


© 2011 Desert Dreamer

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Deep Green Resistance - Statement of Principles

Finally, an environmental movement I can stand by with my entire being...it is as if I wrote these principles myself.  The land is waiting for the Deep Green Resistance, I can hear the Saguaro and the ancient Ironwood Trees asking us to join them in living.  I am glad to know that a few humans out there are listening to the land.

By Deep Green Resistance posted on May 8, 2011

Deep Green Resistance Statement of Principles. The soil, the air, the water, the climate, and the food we eat are created by complex communities of living creatures. The needs of those living communities are primary; individual and social morality must emerge from a humble relationship with the web of life.

2. Civilization, especially industrial civilization, is fundamentally destructive to life on earth. Our task is to create a life-centered resistance movement that will dismantle industrial civilization by any means necessary. Organized political resistance is the only hope for our planet.

3. The Deep Green Resistance movement works to end abuse at the personal, organizational, and cultural levels. The Deep Green Resistance movement aligns itself with feminists and others who seek to eradicate all social domination and to promote solidarity between oppressed peoples.

4. When civilization ends, the living world will rejoice. We must be biophilic people in order to survive. Those of us who have forgotten how must learn again to live with the land and air and water and creatures around us in communities built on respect and thanksgiving. We welcome this future.

Continue reading at: http://deepgreenresistance.org/principles/.

It is time to create art and poetry in the name of the Deep Green Resistance.  Below is my first computer generated art created to celebrate the birth of a new movement.


Deep Green Resistance maple leaf art

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Blue Goddess - a poem and a drawing


A poem and a drawing I made:



Blue goddess of healing
men for plants
of a breath
I show
to goddess
dreams
hand cedar
the sacred bodies
and you remember


Sketch - Hand reveals connections to the world




Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Bees That Sleep in Flowers

I was outside admiring the red Cholla cactus flowers, the rose of the desert as I call them.

There was a bee inside the flower, it came out and perched on the flower edge, seeming to look at me. It stayed there long enough for me to take many pictures.

Bee on Cholla cactus flower

After this bee flew away, I looked in the other flowers. The sun was setting and the Cholla flowers were starting to close. I saw something odd inside one of the closing flowers. After looking closely, I discovered the flower was full of bees! I counted five visible bees and most likely there are up to five more underneath those. The bees were collecting in the flower for the night.
Many bees here in the Sonoran Desert are solitary, very few of them live in hives. Often these solitary bees will congregate at night to hold in the heat. I've seen a few collecting on the undersides of leaves, but nothing like this. Here is a picture. I didn't want to disturb the bees too much so I only took this one photo.

Bees preparing to rest inside the flower as it closes for the evening

I went outside in the morning and the bees were gone...


I'm still figuring out how to identify bees...I know very little beyond being able to know a bee when I see it. What kind of bees sleep in Cholla flowers, have fuzzy hair around their face and are a very pale yellow, more of a cream color? I don't know, but I will learn.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Emerging Ripples

An artwork/poetry combination I created...

Art and poetry combined - Tree reflection on water

Monday, February 21, 2011

Teacher of Madness

(Inspired by seeing a blister beetle, Lytta magister, walk across my path)


Teachers of madness
teachers of rage
we need you to lead us
out of this age.

The rivers are dammed
the trees are all cut
the food is a poison
and the world is changing.

On the mountain
in a cave
the God of Destruction laughs
he knows the age of destruction is near.

The best of us sits
in front of a screen
we talk about peace
but everybody knows.

We need a teacher
the Teacher of Madness
the Master of Anger
the Magister of Rage

And we will all go
laughing
smiling
dancing
destroying



© 2010 Desert Dreamer