April 2017 | WALKING THIS EARTH

There are ways to walk and love the Earth with each step. Walking with loving awareness, I feel my heel make contact followed by the sole of my foot rolling through to the ball and toes―a gentle stroking of the ground like a fond caress.

As one foot lands you could silently say “Love”, and as your other heel touches the ground say “You”. Let it flow rhythmically with your breath and steps. Now’s a perfect time if you have a mantra. Thich Nhat Hanh states in his amazing book, Love Letter to the Earth, “Walking with one hundred per cent of your body and mind can free you from anger, fear, and despair.”

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Grounded

 

my cat catches up,

   makes a sound, rolls

      onto his side on

   the dark ground,

motioning to be stroked

.

sprawling and turning,

   he draws me down

   from the plots and plans

fiercely droning inside

 

back to the soles

   of my feet. Ears prick

   up, his body follows

like a tuft of snaking fur

 

leaving me free

   to wade through waves

   of crickets and

scented evening air

 

while a half-moon arches

   her back to Venus—

      both close enough to touch—

   casting light among

the shadow clusters.

 

Strings of Shining Silence: Earth-Love Poems