Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Pledging my allegience to the soil


Hi folks,

I was just reading one of my favorite poems and thought I would cap off this Earth Day with a quick poem post and a random photograph of a black radish.


For All
by Gary Snyder

Ah to be alive
on a mid-September morn
fording a stream
barefoot, pants rolled up,
holding boots, pack on,
sunshine, ice in the shallows,
northern rockies.

Rustle and shimmer of icy creek waters
stones turn underfoot, small and hard as toes
cold nose dripping
singing inside
creek music, heart music,
smell of sun on gravel.

I pledge allegiance

I pledge allegiance to the soil
of Turtle Island,
and to the beings who thereon dwell
one ecosystem
in diversity
under the sun
With joyful interpenetration for all.



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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

joyful interpenetration!

apparently gary snyder liked to hike not just barefoot and with pants rolled up, but with pants off altogether.

From Jack Kerouac's "Dharma Bums:"Japhy took his pants off so he could look just like an Indian, I mean stark naked, except for a jockstrap, and hiked almost a quarter mile ahead of us sometimes waiting a while, to give us time to catch up, then went on, moving fast, wanting to climb the mountain today."