by bell hooks
speak to us
from beyond the grave
guide us
that we may learn
all the ways
to hold tender this land
hard clay dirt
rock upon rock
charred earth
in time
strong green growth
will rise here
trees back to life
native flowers
pushing the fragrance of hope
the promise of resurrection
2.
such then is beauty
surrendered
against all hope
you are here again
turning slowly
nature as chameleon
all life change
and changing again
awakening hearts
steady moving from
unnamed loss
into fierce deep grief
that can bear all burdens
even the long passage
into a shadowy dark
where no light enters
3.
night moves
through thick dark
a heavy silence outside
near the front window
a black bear
stamps down plants
pushing back brush
fleeing manmade
confinement
roaming unfettered
confident
any place can become home
strutting down
a steep hill
as though freedom
is all
in the now
no past
no present
4.
earth works
thick brown mud
clinging pulling
a body down
hear wounded earth cry
bequeath to me
the hoe the hope
ancestral rights
to turn the ground over
to shovel and sift
until history
rewritten resurrected
returns to its rightful owners
a past to claim
yet another stone lifted to
throw against the enemy
making way for new endings
random seeds
spreading over the hillside
wild roses
come by fierce wind and hard rain
unleashed furies
here in this untouched wood
a dirge a lamentation
for earth to live again
earth that is all at once a grave
a resting place a bed of new beginnings
avalanche of splendor
5.
small horses ride me
carry my dreams
of prairies and frontiers
where once
the first people roamed
claimed union with the earth
no right to own or possess
no sense of territory
all boundaries
placed by unseen ones
here I will give you thunder
shatter your hearts with rain
let snow soothe you
make your healing water
clear sweet
a sacred spring
where the thirsty
may drink
animals all
6.
listen little sister
angels make their hope here
in these hills
follow me
I will guide you
careful now
no trespass
I will guide you
word for word
mouth for mouth
all the holy ones
embracing us
all our kin
making home here
renegade marooned
lawless fugitives
grace these mountains
we have earth to bind us
the covenant
between us
can never be broken
vows to live and let live
7.
again and again
she calls me
this wilderness within
urging me onward
be here
make a path
where the sound
of ancestors speaks
a language heard beyond the grave
this earth I stand on
belongs to the many dead
treasure I find here
is all gift
tender solace
holding back the future
the dead that will not let us forget
late ones
and even further back
the ancients
dreaming achieving
they will not let us forget
time is aboriginal eternal
they carry us back
take us through the sacred portal
that we may come again then again
into the always present
8.
snow-covered earth
such silence
still divine presence
echoes immortal migrants
all life sustained
darkness comes
suffering touches us
again and again
there is pain
there in the midst of
such harsh barrenness
a cardinal framed in the glass
red light
calling away despair
eternal promise
everything changes and ends
9.
autumn ending
leaves like
fallen soldiers
manmade hard hearts
fighting battles on this once sacred ground
all killing done now
dirt upon dirt
covers all signs of death
memory tamped down
ways to not remember
the disappeared
dying faces
longing to be seen
one lone warrior lives
comes home to the hills
seeking refuge
seeking a place to surrender
the ground where hope remains
and souls surrender
10.
here and there
across and down
treasure uncovered
remnants of ancient ways
not buried deep enough
excavated they surface
objects that say
some part of me
lived here before
reincarnated ancestors
give me breath
urge me—live again
return to familiar ground
hear our lost people speak
11.
no crops grow
when dense clay dirt
packed solid
defies
all manmade
intent to destroy
let a blessing come here
let earth
heal and rejoice
she has here
mother of grace
and constancy
wild roses bloom
scatter these hills
with beauty
that does not linger
offering still the promise of healing
and return
12.
mud sliding down
wet can do this
make danger
fall upon us
turn the pure in heart away
no water for holy cleansing
no water for drying thirst
just black death
smothering earth
soot after fire
13.
wingspan wide
death covers all
prey and predator
turkey buzzards overhead
at the bottom of the hill
no eternity be
ckons
just ongoing decay
a deep smothering emptiness
profound prolonged lamentation
birds cry high
14.
hard rain
softens harder ground
from solid rock
to mud so thick
feet go under
making every step
dirge and trial
even as joy surfaces
at last today
we plant
we hope
15.
pink and white oleander
not native to Appalachian ground
still here lies
years and years of poison
rebel flags
heritage and hate
in the war to fight hunger and
ongoing loss
there are no sides
there is only
the angry mind of hurt
bringing death too soon
destroying all our dreams
of union
16.
go high up
climb to the very top
look out
remnants of
majesty remain
here where soldiers stand
watching their gods die
what will be given
in return for shelter
an end to hunger
sanctuary
look from the mountaintops
an army of broken promises
land invaded then left
as though there were no other way
to claim belonging
17.
straight ahead
the road curves
signs signal
no motorboats allowed
this lake our water source
let us drink
clear and true
there are swans
resting here magical presence
all reflecting peace
18.
when trees die
all small hearts break
little living creatures
happy and safe
uprooted
now in need of finding
new places
when home
cracks and breaks and falls
all life becomes danger
how to find
another place
where all is not
yet barren
19.
all fields
of tobacco
growing here
gone now
man has made time
take them
surrendered
this harsh crop
to other lands
countries where
the spirit guides
go the way
of lush green
leaving behind
the scent of memory
tobacco leaves
green yellow brown
plant of sacred power
shining beauty
return to Appalachia
make your face known
20.
the glory in old barns
surpassing time
wood gray shadowed black
faded colors
places where painted signs
tell of products
no longer in use
standing or falling down
these structures
carry the weight of history
work done and undone
memories of toil and torment
there was bounty here
tears for sowing
lamentations for the dead
all fragments that remain
remind us
give thanks
gather praise
21.
turtle islands everywhere
heads poking out
bodies embraced in the world
before the coming of the white man
a sea of calm
where turtles rest
on lands breathing life
outside water
that turtles may play
fat succulent slow
enchanting us
with strength to guard and protect
a wall of hardness
store dreams
of a world without humans
a wet world everlasting
22.
sometimes falling rain
carries memories of betrayal
there in the woods
where she was not meant to be
too young she believes
in her right to be free
in her body
free from harm
believing nature
a wilderness she can enter
be solaced
believing the power
that there be sacred place
that there can be atonement now
she returns with no fear
facing the past
ready to risk
knowing these woods now
hold beauty and danger
23.
bring Buddha
to rest home
in Kentucky hills
that outside each window
a light may shine
not a guilt teaching tradition
be balanced
know loving kindness
end suffering
rejoice in the oneness of life
then let go
carry nothing on your back
travel empty
as you climb steep mountain paths
24.
clouds dressed in gray
for mourning
for grief held
white for adoration
dark for sorrow
come soon
an eternity simply hidden
where all sun and glory reigns
even so
in this now
there is just
a promise
of shadows
relentless
25.
soil rich with lime
grass beyond green
turning toward blue
hills of plenty
all but gone
bent under the weight
all human greed
we speak then
tell of a god of miracles
who moves mountains
yet manmade steel
ravishes this earth
all for coal
deep and black
a destiny of burning heat
covering flesh in ash
26.
equine whispering
horses once roaming freely
out in the open
now live enclosed
captured by boundaries of fence and wire
manmade domestication
horses grazing quietly
fo ur-legged buddhas
standing in grace
forgiving
27.
sublime shadows of midnight
bronze brown
in gray white
dappled black beauty
thunder
man of war
a dynasty of flesh
roaming in the mind’s eye
pondering
such power harnessed
driven
preyed upon by human
will and desire
28.
morning dawn
mist-covered day
dreaming triumph and victory
horses gather
a herd at the top of the hill
bonded
whispering souls
ready to run
speaking a language only they can hear
sounds beyond
interpretation
no heavy rider’s move
in this magic time
no need to tame and mount
all at once
they race
to reach the beyond
29.
softly treading black bear
leaving a trace
green crushed
under innocence
just for now
breaking free
leaving forest for
hill and mountain
fleeing coonskin caps
memories of
renegade red men running
fleeing daniel boone
white wrath
all nature
slaughtered in
the colonizing wake
animals abandoned
alone untouched
sheer good fortune
guides one bear away
a gift of time
with no boundaries
for soon
hunters come
soon comes dying
soon we are captives
30.
burning pain
has its own rhythm
back and back
shaking the foundation of
trees once strong
brought down
by fire
by fierce want
uprooted
all solid
familiar ground
naked now
going once
going twice
leaving damaged
and broken
unending
blackness
31.
returning to sacred places
where all is one
embraced belonging
an intense field of possibility
wondrous goodness
fills the air
grant us great spirits
another chance
to reclaim and nurture earth
glorious sky
divine water
in everyday the blessing of weather
offering change
a constant passing
of life into death
and back again
32.
walking the long way home
walking ever so slow
talking to be
wholly in this world of wonder
standing still
waiting
standing in the center
of a long and winding
dirt road
leading uphill
to a small house
surrounded by lilacs
black-eyed susans
roses and honeysuckle vines
a bench at the bottom
that bodies may rest
before they climb
33.
tap dancing
on tin roofs