Adirondack Morning Meditation by Gloria Heffernan (ONE GOOD MEMORY Series)

Adirondack Morning Meditation
by Gloria Heffernan

Eight women tread a late summer trail.
Pine needles and moss muffle our steps.

We have made a pact.
No talking for this one sacred hour.

In the distance the burble of a stream
penetrates the thick-barked bank of trees.

A woodpecker taps out his own Morse Code
while a red squirrel translates from a birch branch.

We tap each other’s shoulders pointing mutely at
a bouquet of red-tinged mushrooms blooming

in a twist of pine roots like a fist full of peonies,
poisonous probably, but lovely in the morning light.

At a bend in the trail, we linger on a footbridge
listening to dragonflies darting past our ears.

How hard it is to swallow the sound of awe
as it rises in our throats.

Originally published in Nine Mile Magazine, Fall 2018

PHOTO: Two dragonflies by dreamstime.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: I wrote “Adirondack Morning Meditation” after leading a poetry retreat for a group I lead called Poetry as a Spiritual Practice. It was a joyous challenge to simply take in and be present to the beauty that surrounded us without comment or distraction. Six years later, we still meet regularly to write, read, listen, and explore.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gloria Heffernan is the author of the poetry collection, What the Gratitude List Said to the Bucket List (New York Quarterly Books), and Exploring Poetry of Presence: A Companion Guide for Readers, Writers, and Workshop Facilitators (Back Porch Productions).  Her two chapbooks are Hail to the Symptom (Moonstone Press) and Some of Our Parts (Finishing Line Press). Her work has appeared in over 100 publications, including Columbia Review, Stone Canoe, and Yale University’s The Perch. Visit her at gloriaheffernan.wordpress.com.

Remember, poem by Joy Harjo

REMEMBER
by Joy Harjo

Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the star’s stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is. I met her
in a bar once in Iowa City.
Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundown
and the giving away to night.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
her life, and her mother’s, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
origin of this universe. I heard her singing Kiowa war
dance songs at the corner of Fourth and Central once.
Remember that you are all people and that all people are you.
Remember that you are this universe and that this universe is you.
Remember that all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember that language comes from this.
Remember the dance that language is, that life is.
Remember.

SOURCE: “Remember” appears in Joy Harjo’s collection How We Became Human: New and Selected Poems: 1975-2002 (W.W. Norton, 2004), available at Amazon.com.

PAINTING: “Meditations on the Night Sky” by Akvarel.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joy Harjo is a Native American poet, musician, and author. Known primarily as a poet, Harjo has also taught at the college level, played alto saxophone with a band called Poetic Justice, edited literary journals, and written screenplays. A member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Cherokee descent, she is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. In 1995, Harjo received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas. In 2002, Harjo received the PEN Open Book Award for A Map to the Next World: Poetry and Tales. Harjo joined the faculty of the American Indian Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in January 2013. (Read more at wikipedia.org.) Visit Joy Harjo at joyharjo.com.

Author Photo: Joy Harjo, Albuquerque, 1975, by LaVerne Harrell Clark, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Remember, poem by Joy Harjo

REMEMBER

poem by Joy Harjo

Remember the sky that you were born under,

know each of the star’s stories.

Remember the moon, know who she is. I met her

in a bar once in Iowa City.

Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the

strongest point of time. Remember sundown

and the giving away to night.

Remember your birth, how your mother struggled

to give you form and breath. You are evidence of

her life, and her mother’s, and hers.

Remember your father. He is your life also.

Remember the earth whose skin you are:

red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth

brown earth, we are earth.

Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their

tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,

listen to them. They are alive poems.

Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the

origin of this universe. I heard her singing Kiowa war

dance songs at the corner of Fourth and Central once.

Remember that you are all people and that all people are you.

Remember that you are this universe and that this universe is you.

Remember that all is in motion, is growing, is you.

Remember that language comes from this.

Remember the dance that language is, that life is.

Remember.

“Remember” appears in Joy Harjo’s collection How We Became Human: New and Selected Poems: 1975-2002  (W.W. Norton, 2004), available at Amazon.com.

Painting: “Meditations on the Night Sky” by Akvarel.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joy Harjo (born May 9, 1951) is a Native American poet, musician, and author. Known primarily as a poet, Harjo has also taught at the college level, played alto saxophone with a band called Poetic Justice, edited literary journals, and written screenplays. A member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Cherokee descent, she is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. In 1995, Harjo received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas. In 2002, Harjo received the PEN Open Book Award for A Map to the Next World: Poetry and Tales. Harjo joined the faculty of the American Indian Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in January 2013. (Read more at wikipedia.org.) Visit Joy Harjo at joyharjo.com.

Author Photo: Joy Harjo, Albuquerque, 1975, by LaVerne Harrell Clark, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Silence and understanding, quote by Federico Fellini

“If there were a little more silence, if we all kept quiet…maybe we could understand something.” FEDERICO FELLINI

Photo: John Payne

Poetry Written, Poem by Ivon Prefontaine

POETRY WRITTEN 

by Ivon Prefontaine

Sit quietly,

5:30

AM.

Can’t sleep

wait

listen

pay attention

be patient

meditate

contemplate

focus on breath.

Gently return

to a quiet space

solitude

like a river

single words

phrases form

metaphors arise

images appear

in the current.

Discover a gentle smile

on the corners of lips

face softens.

Fresh day

creates space

for voice

words observed

soul speaks

a summer breeze refreshes

asks to be heard.

Tranquil,

bump into creative moment.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ivon Prefontaine is a junior high teacher in a small satellite community of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He regained an appreciation for poetry and found his way back to it after many years. Poetry has reemerged as an integral aspect of his personal expression and complements a growing meditative practice.

Photo: “5:30” by Anne Marthens

“Poetry Written” and other poems by Ivon Prefontaine will appear in the Silver Birch Press SUMMER ANTHOLOGY, a collection of poetry & prose from authors around the world — available June 1, 2013.