PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

Today I’m grateful for something the Navajo often discuss…

How if we are willing to listen…the Earth will speak to us…

And how we shouldn’t expect her to speak the way we do…

in the language of our words…

No…it’s up to us to learn 

the language of the mountains, 

the rivers

the wind…

the trees, 

the flowers 

and the birds.

When you take a walk alone in nature…listen to your footsteps

because from the moment that you start…

You’ll hear how the sound your footsteps make…match the beating of your heart.

Check your heart rate as you’re walking…it’s amazing don’t you think

how the sound your footsteps make and your heartbeat are in sync.

And the more you walk alone nature….

through forests, over mountains, valleys and firths.…

you realize your footsteps and your heartbeat

connect directly with the heartbeat of the Earth.

Whether you’re walking under the moon and stars or accompanied by the sun… 

you quickly come to appreciate…how your two hearts beat as one.

As you listen to the symphony of nature…as you hear Earth’s music hum…

you realize to her daily operetta 

your connected hearts provide the rhythm of the drum….

The Ojibwe word for drum is Dewe’igan (day way eh gun)

which, when you pull that word apart…

means the instrument that creates the sound of a beating heart.

The Ojibwe believe all of nature is animate…alive…

they include their sacred and cherished Dewe’igan too…

On a walk in nature 

as you listen to your heart connect with the heartbeat of the Earth…

you begin to understand how this Ojibwe belief…is true.

The Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert grow up listening to the stars…

and feeling the joy their music brings….

but for most of us the stars are silent…we have never heard them sing.

Nor can we talk to the flowers, the forest…the oceans

and all the animals who within them dwell…

We’ll never know the adventures they’ve had…

never hear the stories they can to tell.

The Bushmen have an explanation for this…a simple reason why:

So many of us have lost our connection to the the land…the seas…the sky.

So I’ve been doing a little experiment with the rabbits I see on my walk…

when I see them I stop…close my eyes…and in my head we have a little talk.

I say, Good Morning Rabbits…do not be afraid…do not be alarmed….

I just want to say hello…I won’t cause you any harm.

I tell them not to worry…that I will soon be on my way…

I hope that they are happy and to have a wonderful day.

Of course at first they ran away…back into the bushes, the grasses…the woods.

I wasn’t sure if they heard me…or if the did…they understood.

But lately they’ve stopped running…they don’t find me so offending…

I think, perhaps, my words and thoughts they might be comprehending…

Or perhaps it’s nothing more than simply rabbit curiosity 

I can’t be sure because, no matter how much I talk to them…

they have yet to talk to me.

But now that I have their attention… 

I let them know they are welcome to talk to me too…

that they can take their time…that I’ll be listening when they do.

These rabbits are the first connection I’m trying to make…

on them many of my hopes and dreams are clinging….

because if this experiment works…who knows…

perhaps…

one day…

I’ll hear the songs the stars are singing.

Today I’m grateful for our Mother Earth…

and all of her beauty and wonders that I see…

Let’s face it…

without our Mother Earth

where would any of us be?