I asked Earth Mother...

I often hesitate to share ‘spoken word’ pieces on a 2D surface (in writing), as the in-person sharing flows with particular rhythms to hear  the off-beat rhymes, half-rhymes, moments of subtle humor. But this one, written for 12.12.12 and Solstice 12.21.2012, has been reverberating in me and helping me integrate during these powerful times. So maybe it’s not the same as speaking it aloud in the stillness round that blazing solstice fire at dusk as the galaxies align in a full circle of dear ones sitting on earth on top of a sacred mountain – but just in case any line lands in anyone’s heart and can be of benefit, here it is. May the sacred fire flame and galaxies spiral in you…


I asked earth mother,
what do the humans need to hear at this time?
she said
‘remind them we’re all rhymes in the divine mind’

then why suffer so? I said

‘because you grasp what’s not lasting.
let go your brokenness, your perceived need for healing
merge with the feeling
between your breathing’

but earth mother, I said
are your treetrunks not cracking?
snow carvings melting
are your waters black of spilled blood
are we trying enough
just keep moving keep bank balance flowing watch screen glowing
distract me
from the burning in our home

she said, yes child I hear ya,
tell them all that.

let go the pact
you made not to be sad
build an altar of bones
you’ve got to touch shadows sweetly to journey this way
and give thanks for each breathing
of this green

mother I feel you under my feet
mother I hear your heart beat
mother I feel you under my feet
mother I hear your heart beat

she said we are this and
beyond
just this body and mind
so call to the stars, ask them to shine through you
call on the rivers to flow you home
if no human ear appears let this sky be your microphone

one mind aligned.
what’s on the line this time?
the continuation of your kind.
and the creatures with you
saying what will you do?
how will your soft lips kiss love into
the deep, stained places
ancestors kneel at your back saying
‘we walk the stars but we’ve not forgot’
you’ve got to do it yourself
but you don’t do it alone
let earth, moon and stars
guide you home

mother I feel you under my feet
mother I hear your heart beat
mother I feel you under my feet
mother I hear your heart beat

she said stand.
draw strength from ground beneath
and earth in you.
only then you begin to
birth magic midst the tragic
gratitude amidst leaving
wholeness amongst the appearance of cleaving
dancing in the heart of the grieving

may you be a sun                         birthing, glowing
may you be a stream                        gathering, flowing
may you be the sea                         cleansing, tiding
may you know yourself to be             an astronaut riding
a watery spaceship with a crazy crew
all interweaving the future with you

be the petal of the flower
opening to the sun
so soft so brief but glowing knowing in you breathes the one
be the dolphin flipping waves
in a heaving sea
pray dance play
that's the only way
you’ll carry this

mother I feel you under my feet
mother I hear your heart beat
mother I feel you under my feet
mother I hear your heart beat

can you step forth trusting the earth will catch you?
will you knock the eggshell of your fear, let it hatch you
to a sky so huge
can you let your spacious breath be your true refuge
can you merge with water as rain patters the roof
and dances your veins, swelling every cell
humming within:
all is,
always has been,
and will be
well.

curse the stars, shake your fist if you like:
why’d I have to be born 5 minutes to midnight?
I came here to love, not to fight.
exactly.
we need you to find
how justice can be joy
we need you to waltz
as you rise shouting to sky
we need you to smile
your heart
at every one, no matter how misguided seeming
we need you to lead us walking in peace
through the crime scene
or the dreaming
or through crude oil slicking feathers on the beach
or in a circle of mossy ancient trees
or in soft soil where after the storm,
amidst the debris, you kneel
to bury seeds

on these
dancefloors
the flicker within
learns how we never die
spiraling to the knowing
of every now as divine

you say this path might drive you out of your mind?
great. get out of your mind.

you are the gong ringing bringing peace to tired bones
you are the stone skipping singing even the heaviest can fly
you are the rainbow glow in the solar system’s eye

and we are the tribe

mother I feel you under my feet
mother I hear your heart beat
mother I feel you under my feet
mother I hear your heart beat

your heart knows anciently why you’re here. don’t forget
so many words skitter these heads
see your shadow, anchor the light
we integrate all sides, that’s the gift of this spaceflight
that’s why souls line up to be born here
without the abyss, how could love transcend fear?
without the rocky cliff, how to learn how to leap?
without doubt it would be
meaningless to believe

come back to your breathing

you are earth heaving
you are sky dreaming

you are 3.5 billion years of evolution blooming
opening its dragonfly wings
you are the hum in every cell of every living thing
when you feel this you bring healing
wherever you sing

believe in harmony, believe in a future, believe in the word 'somehow'
even if the path disappears into the mist right now
this knowing may crash your rational
but nurtures your cells
and all around you wherever you dwell
heaven is in you, also hell
choosing is activism with every breath
in every moment, transcending death

and you’ll be fine –
if you can learn to ground and fly at the same time.

and you can
if you let love flow through your spine

earth children it’s here, the time’s arriving
inside each molecule awakening hums

it’s more than surviving
it's all we’re all connected
it can’t be directed
the DNA spiral unfolding, revealing

the vastest catastrophe, the deepest healing

earth children your home is calling you
this moment is a portal but you step through
if you’re the only one saying no, be that one
if you’re the only light you can see, be that sun
if you wonder is it calling me,
it probably is
each one that risks
ignites ten more
resonating in each other’s shining cores

I asked earth mother,
so that's what the humans need to hear at this time?
she said
‘oh all that I just said – that was just for you redwood, you need to chill out, I was hoping you’d get the message’

;)

she said:
remind them we’re all lines in the divine rhyme
and know you are blessed
to be alive
at this time.


(c) Redwood Reider 2012, welcome to share as long as you acknowledge the source (me) and The Source ;)