Ode to an Ohio Prairie
We walk through these wildflowers
in this sacred prairie
we talk to our ancestors
and listen for their stories
Singing nettles in nature’s nave
thistle, clover, and ironweed
primordial prayers whispered
in wooly ears of drifting seed
Queen Anne’s lace waves and calls,
curls her index finger to you in invitation
dancing blooms into September’s hours
witness the first preservation
Do not hurry, saunter instead
you need not gaze far to be enchanted
We walk through these wildflowers
in this sacred prairie
we talk to our ancestors
and listen for their stories
Hold space for reverence and wonder
for infinite galaxies live in these fauna
multi-hued tapestries of splendor
golden cattails genuflect as if in Siena
Red-winged blackbirds are soothsayers
gargoyles of maple and walnut trees
weavers pluck their strings like violin players
milkweed a patchwork quilt of bees
Loam breath, explosion of sun prayer
spiritual pilgrim, A la Sainte Terre
We walk through these wildflowers
in this sacred prairie
we talk to our ancestors
and listen for their stories
No higher calling than steward
her aster lungs breathe
because we left her be
her cloister uncarved, pu in Tao speak
ever-bursting tonic of wildness
spilling over into eyes, lungs, and veins
compass of healing apothecary
chanted in cicadas’ repeated refrains
Cathedral, mosque, synagogue, temple
What could transcend this creation miracle?
Grand Canyon
1.
Thirst
it always comes back to
water in wilderness sun
2.
baked sculpture
slow progress
in whose mind?
150 million malleable
years of wu-wei
soft overcomes hard
flexible over rigid
rock paper scissors
water beats rock
3.
dusty zipper switchbacks
Zig zag zig up down up
cracked drought rivers
layer after layer
4.
no blue as blue as this blue
lapis quivers between
white winged weightless
fluffball cotton giants
cast dark cobalt shadows
across infinite ridges
deep as lakes, dive in
desert mirages
5.
vapor limbs extend
to peaks like vulture shadows
swirls of scattered bones and spirits
roam in the wind
carried in mouths of panting lizards
6.
sweaty backs lean
on surprisingly cool walls
breeze whispers relief
lifts wisps of hair
off necks, ruffles
feathers of hawks
7.
Hualapai live inside
and Navajo (Dine)
Beauty before, beauty behind
beauty all around, beauty in all
and Havasupai
who proclaim, we are the Grand Canyon
no more “Indian Garden”
8.
always use caution
mules have right away
press your backpack flush, uphill side
stand statue still
do not talk or fidget
hooves loosen small
rocks that roll, disappear off the sides
wait another sixty feet
a spooked mule is certain injury
and backpackers can be assholes
9.
Hair snaps into knives at
Plateau Point
view smeared with gauzy
marmalade lens, golden citrus
folds and unfolds
heavy, solid, liquid
luminated like a headdress
of cactus flowers with lace ribbons
floating down to Colorado’s curve
ridged rooftop to sound your
Barbaric Yawp!
10.
Naked canyon floor
river laps over bruised feet yin
surges at bend yang
11.
Deer, birds, lizards
snakes, scorpions
shake out your boots
and your sleeping bag
every time
12.
Agave flowers grow
one foot a day
these are not canyons
they are earth cathedrals chiseled by cherry cotton
scaled by thousands of sculptured staircases
formed into sherbet phantom hawk rock pinatas
13.
Ascension
takes twice as long
is where you
get into trouble
do not ever forget
you are a drop of water
restrained in the cactus
simmering on a snake’s spilt tongue.
Amanda Hayden is Poet Laureate for Sinclair College and Professor of Humanities, Philosophy, and Religions (emphasis in Indigenous, Eastern, and Environmental Studies), receiving several pedagogy awards, including the SOCHE Award (2017) and the League for Innovation Teaching Excellence Award (2020). Her chapter, Saunter Like Muir: Experience Projects in Environmental Ethics was recently published by Routledge (2022) in Eco pedagogies: Practical Approaches to Experiential Learning. She also published a book of stories: Windy Chicken Farm Animal Rescue. She lives with her family on a small farm with three dogs, two cats, two goats, seven pigs, many chickens, and a duck named Dorothy.