(Hour 13) 10.30-11.30am. PROMPT, Dictionary. Pick an unusual word. Define it without using it.

gyromancy

there are many things i do not understand
many foolish ways supposedly to determine your future

you would think brisk walking
would not help you find your future
i do not understand how it helps
but nonetheless briskly walk
round & round, circle upon circle
until giddy fuzzy dizzy delirium
causes you to tumble groundwards
where you fall apparently determines your fate.

(have i said i do not understand
these many foolish future finding ways?)

perhaps your toes pointing north indicates
a long journey up a steep mountainside
i cannot tell you how or indeed whether
falling on your back, side, or front
markedly differentiates the divination
or how which why whether or whence
if your legs are crossed or arms flung wide
it likewise affects the proposed prognostication

needless to say there are

many foolish ways supposedly to determine your future
& there are many many things i do not understand

Earth

She created you, birthed you
from her own flesh and bone
Every atom, every twist of DNA
Was all by Her design.

You were once the spring leaf 
Of an old tree long gone.
You were the mud on the riverbank.
You were the star that exploded
And made our solar system.

You are a part of your home
A part of this Earth
Just as a snail 
Is a part of her shell.

Next time it is dark
And you can't find your roots
Remember this:
The land knows you even when you are lost.

Lost America (hour 14)

America is lost and

no longer knows herself,

but truly did she ever?

 

Land of the white and

home of the male.

My skin is a traitor,

my body a prisoner.

 

When we we have been dismantled

and there is nothing left worth saving,

will we admit we were wrong then?

 

I know no home.

I know no land.

I am an agent of those

fighting to be free.

Mother Earth

Prompt 17, Hour 14

For this hour I want you to use the quote bellow by Robin Wall-Kimmerer from her book Braiding Sweetgrass as the jumping off point.

“The land knows you, even when you are lost.”

 

The Land knows you even if you are lost … the Land, Our Mother Earth

Respect and Love her, she is no different than your own Mother who gave you Birth

The Land knows you even if you are lost … in the whirlwind of Life

Do not forget her, she will help you in the long strife

She will Feed, Bathe, Clothe, Protect you … if you give her Care and Nourishment

But if you Ravage, Destroy, Abuse her … you will face Mother Nature’s Wrath – Global Warming, Tsunamis, Quakes, Droughts – a Mother’s Punishment

 

The land knows you, even when you are lost

I walk through day to day, no site of you.

I dream & swim in thoughts, waves of you.

I sit, ’round a fire rise, thoughts turns smoke.

A breeze hugs, kisses away some flame.

You were never here, heard too much, I run to be lost but am always found.

Trees hold high the songs, carried by the air to ear.

Wash away the night, every morning. Every night, wash away the day.

Do it all again, some call it camping.

Others call it home.

Homecoming

The land you know, even when you are lost can soothe a broken spirit with a familiar place to call home.

The road no longer feels long, it becomes a guide without a map to follow the twists and turns around each corner.

Knowing its peaks and valleys all too well. It makes a journey to the past feel like riding on a carousel.

The faces begin to mimic an old school teacher, a tired cashier, a man dedicated to his hustle, a mother smiling at the simple things in life.

The air so muggy and hot in the summer yet crisp and breezy in the winter.

Fall doesn’t exist because we know when the leaves begin to lift.

The seasons will shift from one extreme to the next.

Encouraging us all to take time to rest.

The water a mixture of grays and blues. A place many go to seek for solitude.

The clouds are mysterious with strokes of color displayed upon its never-ending canvas.

The scent of sweet potato pie and fried turkey or those pink azaleas flowers laying along the road all beautiful, soft, and sweet.

The energy of home when your bags can drop from your hands and lay peacefully at your feet.

The Night We Listened (2019 Poem 12)

The night we listened
To the oars rowing
Horn so near
It seemed
We could see our hearts
We heard the ocean
Full of warmth
We were perishing
Yet unheeding
In too great a hurry
I have since wondered
If we listen what
Might come to us
Out of the deep

Erasure of “Out of the Fog” by C.K. Ober

Inhale

I like how it feels to inhale chemicals

I wait for the wave to wash over me

Relax my being,

my mind shedding the suit of armor it has been wearing all day

and fade into the relaxing calm abyss

half-mast eyes, but a full smile

i am finally at peace