Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit marvelous Marcie Flinchum Atkins for Roundup.
Here's a quote I love:
What does “wild” mean anyway? Not untouched by human presence, for even the plants—especially the plants—show how the canyonland's first inhabitants tended agave and prickly pear, coaxing them into new shapes. A wild place isn't one unchanged by humans. It's a place that changes us.
So, my question for you today—and because I've been thinking about it all week—what is a place that has changed you? Would you call it "wild?"
In the midst of these musings I wrote a small ArtSpeak: LIGHT poem, which is also about being changed somehow. The art at first glance doesn't seem to be of a "wild" place, but by Sevigny's definition, I think, YES, this IS a wild place! We are changed by light, by wonder, by simply sitting in communion with one another. Thanks so much for reading!
late afternoon
we are all glass windows
stained by light
- Irene Latham
Mapping the botany of the Grand Canyon -- sounds fascinating! Irene, I adore that painting and your poem. They complement each other beautifully! xo
ReplyDelete"we are all" is such an embrace in this poem. Love it.
ReplyDeleteLove the interesting use of the word "stained", usually thought of as negative but here, like a blessing! Thanks for sharing a small part of the book, too, Irene.
ReplyDeleteLinda B, that's exactly what I was going to say about "stained." This one is lovely, wild or not!
ReplyDeleteIrene, all of a sudden my little girls can change with a flick of time into wild things full of mischief. BUT I love to see the antics. Do these action change me? They make me appreciate the wonder of grandmotherhood. Your thought, "we are all changed by simply sitting in communion with one another", is powerful. I love sitting here staring into the art work and reading your poem.
ReplyDeleteWE are wild - changed by light! I'm in the Rockies this week and marveled at tundra! Your poem echoes in my heart.
ReplyDeleteEven though it's a space created by human me, I try to keep my garden as wild as possible for the critters who visit and live there.
ReplyDeleteOhhh "we are all glass windows." Gorgeous line!!!
ReplyDeleteThis book has been on my radar, and now I want to read it even more!
I think my high school years spent at a boarding school on a beach changed me. I was reminded of that when we went to the beach this spring and I needed to have the windows open all night so I could hear the waves, just like when I was a teenager. So soothing! I don't really want to sit in the sun all the time. I just like the sound of the waves.
But the wild places (even in the very metro area that I live in now) have definitely been changing me this summer. Each park I visit, I'm so, so grateful for the people who planned out plenty of green space in a congested, overcrowded area.
Your poem casts a different light on the painting, helping me see its already beautiful light as gorgeous stained glass. Love this!
ReplyDeleteYou share such interesting thoughts and considerations about what wild means. Your title grabbed me and now I'm lingering in the idea of wild. Your poem, with its creative use of the word "stained", is just fabulous!
ReplyDeleteLight is magical and mood-changing. In "late afternoon" and "stained glass" I feel warmth and beauty. Thank you!
ReplyDelete