Songs of Genesee (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780998998800)

This is a book about water--streams, rivers, lakes, seas--and about new beginnings. Poetry has always been a direct and living response to life's varied circumstances. Is it the fragility of life and its huge power--both--which keep us in balance and alive? The movement generated by the changes is renewal itself. Seeking a language for this has been one way of integrating experience and coming into harmony. The energy of the writing changes me.

As a record of self within the greater wholeness, it is never 'just about me.' We are each responsible for feeling, for attuning to the whole; sharing is a joy which can grow awareness of our interconnectedness. By our voice we make peace.

These songs and poems are about celebration, self-healing, and dreaming. I have spent time in woods and jungles, often in solitude, and also with natural people who have extended to me their welcome and kindness. They have taught me about sustainability, how to give up my fancy moves in exchange for dancing most of the night, grounded in simplicity and energized by a loving earth. In my lifetime I've learned many forms only to leave them behind, to come closer to freedom, and to the spirit of the mother, and father, in me. And the Valley Spirit, which is Genesee.

'. . . and in her eyes - all waters of the world unite.'

'. . . Much to do, contemplation--new beginnings
Dirty and ripe is the root
I wash my face
Drank a dewdrop
at my father's grave.'

I believe this is a time to go beyond all prejudice and to affirm, without apology, our essence which lives in each human heart. And in the heart of all of nature. For this reason, I have included some poems from childhood and from many phases of life, making this as diverse a collection as possible. I have noticed that unity--simplicity--is most apparent when diversity is embraced. For me it could not be otherwise, having lived on four continents, and with less formal education than many, exposed to dangers as well as to great beauty; nature has given me words. Often I have written poetry as a kind of condensation, trying to get to the core of what I need to understand, even in the midst of turmoil or adventure--helping me through. It might even be like a growth ring around a tree. Sometimes I think a story might express something better, and in that case, I am writing stories as if the poems are a prelude to other writing which is in the process of unfolding. More books to come.

What Others Say:

..". I was especially moved by the humble immediacy of your setting of intentions to grow right on the page, as in 'The cave of my heart'. . ."

." . . it flows, one body into another, 'irrepressible'."