Publication Date: July, 2021
Location: PoetCrit, out of New Delhi, available here.
Genesis: I have an on-going project to write one poem to each of the 168 different poetic forms listed here. This particular one is a Cascade or, more specifically, a quatrain Cascade. (It’s going particularly well right now; I’ve only written to 13 forms so far.)
Living out here, embedded in Nature, On the edge of the National Park, My connection to Earth, to Spirit, Is real, vital, immediate and constant. My senses are alive to the subtle changes In the quality of the air, the shifts in the silence, The changing seasons, the songs of the birds, Living out here, embedded in Nature. Still that primitive, hard-wired dread Creeps in around the Winter Solstice; The ancient fear that the Sun will abandon me On the edge of the National Park. Then - deep, almost visceral joy and wonder As the days slowly get longer, brighter; The first snowdrop, cheerfully reaffirming My connection to Earth, to Spirit. Every year, the speed of change astounds. Every day, a new sign of growth and renewal. Every hour, a reminder that Life Is real, vital, immediate and constant.