ON THE WAY TO BURGOYNE BAY

In the grassland, stillness spilling
swallow’s flight unweighted, sprung to sky
this branch, this winged release
up, up, high hummingbird, dragonfly, goldfinch, swallow

memory of warmth, shard of stone holding snake
uncoiling shade at my feet black and gold garter disappearing
raven’s guttural clamshell call, fieldberry, forest of many layered darkness entering deep pine, hemlock, cedar calm sea of green
looking back at me
standing in the long grass with the ancestors beneath me.
Daisies on the mounded land waving white heads. Last requiem.
In the open meadow moves a deer and her fawn, flash
of robin’s vermillion breast startled up, eagles riding slow
circles of air, infinite charcoal ceiling of the world, this calligraphic scribe of stormcloud and light closing the distance between us
azure pools of your eyes.

Requiem For A Dream Lux Aeterna FULL ORCHESTRA

ON APPROACHING THE AFTERLIFE

POEM ON APPROACHING THE AFTERLIFE

The big fish are almost gone now
empty beds where they rested and fed
my childhood past, spent watching
the struggle on bank’s edge
bloodied, ragged skins in shreds
falling from salmon spent in spawn.
Living flesh broken away from spines
even as new life struggled within
to be born
sweet milt filling streams lost now.
Lost streams buried under the IGA down the street
concrete mall holding heavy metal freezers full of fish.

Hole gushing in the Gulf, spilt riches
they call it crude, but what’s more crude
than a gaping wound I ask you
What is not yet taken?

Before I fall silent, I want to say
do not look away. Feed them. Give to them
give to the broken and empty. Give your own starving heart.
For every hungry ghost, give up your life.

For years now, I have mistaken despair for caring
like many—I have been sleeping.
Wake up!
Do not hesitate because your tender heart is almost gone
we are all killing something
you have this courage
forgive yourself, and go on loving the world.
Accept your gift.

c. Gabryel Harrison

REQUIEM FOR THE GULF

take a chance on your inspiration

Don't be afraid to be a mystery to yourself. So many times we do things or take certain directions that we don't understand. It is only much later that we see how that action fit perfectly and inevitably to the overall pattern of our life. That is why it is so important to be willing to take a chance on our inspiration...When we override our deepest desires with "practical, “reasonable” considerations we are not only wasting our time, we are passing up precious opportunities that will not come again. -Reggie Ray

for all those born and unborn

sorrow is the darkness
curled in your closed fist

emptiness
like a hole in the palm of your hand

We all touch it
are touched by the one wound
opening us to light

home waters

Going home. To the country of my birth
to hear the wordless speech of mountain,
earth, water, horizon, longing
to touch ground
breathing the breath
of the Long White Cloud
like a pilgrim walking,
the closer I come
the more the mountain disappears
the closer I come
the more I realize
you were always inside me
in my bones
there is no seeking
just home
in your waters.

Gabryel Harrison