Write a poem of medicine–

Write a poem of song

A poem of those you long for, and

(That wound when you were wronged).

Of the bridges you have burned (and)

The dreams for which you yearn “and”

Of your life and all its lessons

Blessing each one in their turn.

Live in the place where poetry is born.

Poetry is medicine singing–

For both the hopeful and forlorn…

There is a place
On Big River
Where in hot summers
My childhood was spent
Baptized in the coolness if its embrace

While others played
I would venture a bit further
Upriver, and it was there
That Big River fixed itself
In my young mind

And the Virginia trout
Swimming in their element
Could not for the life of them
Understand my
Youthful fear of drowning

And  suddenly far enough
Upriver alone, submerged… and looking up at
The mountains and the clear blue sky
I found myself
Lying along the bottom of

The river and its currents passing by
And I am gazing upward into
The surface of Big River, and the mountains and sky above…
And no longer fearing drowning nor death
At last in my element and free

Cottage in the glen…
Sheltered by forest,
Heralded by wren.

As mind and body, and
The heavens and earth…
Come together again.

First one…then the others…
In this sacred hour,
Offer their universal power.

Joining together as One…
Awaiting the guest of the hour,
Now the Awakened Heart…fills this fire-lit bower.

They say the blind are sighted
In ways we cannot see
Perhaps the eyes of forest
Are just the same as these 

Where vision is held in presence
As contours are held by touch
Where glen and glade in-gather
For miracles are made of such

 Paths take a turn toward the inward
What was outside resides within
As all we sense around us
Joins inscapes joyous hymns

 Blind and sighted intermingle
And all are sighted by need
From every form of blindness
Each finds its freedom indeed

 For there is found to be no partition
Between observer and observed
Belief of seperation in deep woods
Is found to be absurd

Spirit’s vision now reads by Braille
Of bark and bramble and brook
And as we leave the forest
This is the lesson we took

 It is in the closing of eyes
In wonder’s stance of awe
That any kind of blindness
Is healed by what we saw

In forested new-found vision
There is no need for seeing
A new world is now upon us
For this is the season of Being

THE NATURE OF LIFE: INNER VOICE~INNER LIGHT

[Finding the Place from Which to Write Poetry]

with STEPHEN W EMERICK and SHAWNA R EMERICK
October 31 (Sunday 3 PM) through November 2 (Tuesday Noon), 2010

At The Inn at Cedar Falls, Logan, Ohio

For Reservations: Call 1-800-653-2557

Come listen to the sounds of your heart and its words ~ And the movement of the body and its stories ~ In order to discover a new vocabulary ~For daily life, and for deeper Self-discovery.

Come join Stephen (Dayton Ohio’s Poet~Psychologist) and Shawna (one of New York’s finest Yoga Instructors and Thai Bodyworker) for this one of a kind experience. This father-daughter team invite you to their three day retreat October 31 through November 2, 2010. The retreat is for those seeking to experience, explore, and expand that sacred place from which poetry is written. This experience brings an emerging understanding of the Self while nurturing the physical, and expanding the lingual! This retreat was a sell out in 2009.

Stephen will share from poetry he wrote at The Inn (Poems from The Inn at Cedar Falls) as well as poems written in southeastern Ohio (Poems from Deep Woods). His new work A Stone’s Throw will be available along with his CD Visions, and a new work, La Mesa De Jesu (with guest artist and cellist Jack Martin). Shawna will share from her expertise in Yoga. Sessions are focused on the participant. Sessions begin with mild Yoga movement as well as meditation. Time for writing and sharing one’s own expression of poetry is provided within a supportive environment. Using the Hocking Hills beauty and the workshops environment at The Inn, Stephen and Shawna create the space for exploration of the nature of one’s inner environment.

This experience of 2010 will include a Concert by Stephen and Shawna. Stephen will be performing with a number of Native American flutes, as Shawna presents yogic poetic movement in Dance. Bring your instruments if you would like to play and perform yourself! Or sing! Please bring some of your own favorite poetry written by you or another, for sharing if you please!

Bring relaxed and comfortable clothing for the workshop; hiking clothes if you will be hiking in The Hocking Hills. Stephen and Shawna will be providing mats and blocks for yoga. The majority of those attending will be beginners or intermediate yoga people. Advanced practitioners are welcome too!

About Shawna and About Stephen

Stephen’s educational background includes a PHD in Psychology and a Seminary degree. He is a Licensed Psychologist and is in Private Practice in Centerville Ohio.

Shawna’s educational background includes a BS in Dance. She also has multiple Yoga Teacher Training as well as two Thai Yoga Massage Certifications. In 2009 Shawna completed a month long trip to Thailand both volunteering with children and finishing her second Thai Yoga Massage Certification. She has shared her training experience with the Spa staff at The Inn at Cedar Falls. Contact The spa for information and Thai Body Massage.

Stephen and Shawna’s role model for change has been Dr. Rev. Samuel Emerick. Sam is now 93 years old and resides in Port Charlotte, Florida. Sam was one of the original persons in the early stage and development of a Fund for Humanity, which eventually became Habitat for Humanity. Stephen and his father traveled to Zaire, Africa for Samuel Emerick’s consultation with Habitat projects. Stephen and Shawna carry on the family tradition of honoring one’s voice and body in service as the sacred nature of life.

Shawna has lived for the last seven years in New York City where she continues to teach yoga, offer Thai Yoga Massage and perform by dancing throughout all boroughs.

This two day father-daughter workshop begins on Sunday at 3 PM and concludes Tuesday at 12 Noon. Cost includes: Two nights accommodation in a room (shared or single charged differently), 2 dinners, gourmet brown bag lunch Monday, breakfasts, taxes, gratuities, concert and instructor time. The workshop is limited to 18 people to allow for individual instruction.

I know not how it happened,
or when.
Or if it was closer to now,
or then.

But there at the top of the hill:
Sitting under the moon…sitting za zen,
I heard the words from
the lips of the night:
“You are loved…you are my friend”.

(And I hope you find it too, my friend,
there upon the hill, just up from Old Cotterman’s glen).

Early this morning, long before dawn…
As I climbed my mountain of worries
I could hear from atop the Andes, the
Flute of an earlier life,
Speaking to me, “No worries”, “be not afraid”, “no strife”.
And I am standing among
Peru’s cloud forests…
And there myself I find…
Standing on the seismic stretch marks of
our planet’s birthing shelf…
I remember:
Sometimes one must clash, grind, break, and
monumentally shift in volcanic disarray
To find the New Self…
To find…the New Day.

Some called savages

Stephen W Emerick

Some called savages

Were said to be the God-less

But standing here today we know

They worshiped in Cathedrals of wonder

Long before we arrived with fancy hand-carved

Alters of supplication and marbled seats for the profound

And it all pales before this one moment as we know

They worshiped here and worshiped

The origin of the planting of the seed of wonder

And perhaps it is not their purpose to shame our arrogance and stiffness but rather it is simply the

overwhelming magnificence of

The One here whom we now with them worship in adoration

Cover for "The Margins of the Day" by Jim Crotty

 The most recent self-publishing project featuring landscape photographs taken from late summer through autumn of 2009, “The Margins of the Day” is a 50-page, 8×10 coffee table-style book that comes in both soft and hardcover versions. All the images within the book are full-color. The introductory text describes my creative approach toward capturing landscapes in those times of day when the “good light” is apparent and the subtle tones and textures of foreground and sky compliment one another for resulting photographs that are serene, peaceful and calm. Many of scenes represented in the book are from the Hocking Hills of Southeastern Ohio, however, landscapes in the Colorado Plateau of Utah, the Great Smoky Mountains of Eastern Tennessee and the coastline of the Carolina Low Country are also included in this book which is a photographic celebration of the haunting beauty of natural light at dawn and dusk.

via Calm Photos » Margins of the Day Photography Book by Jim Crotty.

Hope

A singular flickering light—
In the darkness—shining Bright!