Our last Poetry in the Park hike was at Botterill Bottom. No one showed up. Perhaps the high wind speeds kept them away. James and I weren’t disappointed. We wouldn’t have been able to teach anything in that wind, anyhow.
We were greeted by an American Eagle who flew quite low overhead. I’ve never caught such a great view of an Eagle in flight before then. I didn’t catch it with my camera. I rarely manage to catch life in motion that way.
We could see the Pelicans from the parking lot. I asked James if he wanted to hike out to see them and he did. When we got out to see the Pelicans close-up, there was a man within the “World Peace” art piece near the weir. It turned out that he was the artist.
James spoke with Michael, the artist, for about two and a half hours that day. Michael is very friendly, patient, and interesting to talk with. Seeing Michael’s art work weeks ago had inspired me to write a poem. Meeting him and listening to him inspired many more.
Our Poetry in the Park hikes always inspire many poems. Although I’ve been to the places where I’ve scheduled these hikes many times before, I never know exactly what I will experience on the hikes. I can anticipate which plants will be blooming and which birds will be present in a particular place at a particular time, but somehow every hike is different.
I’ve typed up and recorded videos of myself reading some of the poems that various Poetry in the Park hikes inspired so that I could include them in this post. I have also included a video which features an interview with Michael, the artist who is creating “World Peace” near the Lethbridge weir at Botterill Bottom.
Our next Poetry in the Park hike is at Cottonwood Park on May 5, 2024 at 9 AM. The poetry form we’re guiding folks through will be the fourteener. I plan to put up another post before the weekend which includes an example of a fourteener. I haven’t included an example of one in this post.
Michael’s Home
A man named Michael told me of
his memory – of his family’s love –
of picking olives back in Crete
and then of sitting down to eat
those olives back beneath their tree –
in shade – the perfect place to be
with loved ones on a sunny day.
He said that while he worked away
on making “peace” a piece of art
he made a little shady part
beneath a little olive tree
his “home,” and smiled while telling me.
He said he ate its olives, too
(which wasn’t something I would do).
He told me that their fruit was sweet.
I saw him – sitting down to eat
his olives in that “home” he made
beneath that little olive’s shade.
If you would like to visit Michael’s website, see the link below.
mountainbrideblog 