Blog 158 April is Poetry Month
And Poetry is a form of creativity. Reading and writing poetry can help you slow down, observe, sense and discover what is true and important in life. All kinds of artistic creativity are good for your health, helping keep you relaxed, inspired and happy. Every once in a while in this blog, I share some poetry written by members of the Nature Writing Group to which I belong. That is what I will do today, at the end of this blog. We meet at the North Park Village Nature Center or at a member’s home, one Sunday a month, usually from 1 until 3 pm. In addition to enjoying the benefits of creating and sharing Art (usually writing, but music, painting, drawing, photography, even dance are also sometimes shared in this group) just being in a nature preserve, walking, observing, and sitting can energize, heal and inspire.
Forest bathing, a guided relaxation therapy that was first promoted in Japan in 1980, has become popular world-wide. People walk, sit and recline in wooded areas while a leader gives suggestions about how to most benefit from that time spent in Nature. Creative ideas and inspirations can arise. Even ideas for healing can come to participants. So the combination of Art and Nature is an excellent way to support health, intellect, and this planet.
Personally, I can not think of anything more important than respecting, supporting and improving the quality of soil, water, air, and the life force of plants, animals and the rest of the organisms that inhabit the Earth. And taking care of our health can teach us to appreciate and preserve the Earth.
Members of the Nature Writing Group have come and gone over the years. In closing, I want to share poems written by two of our past members.
By Ilda Castellanos
Alice, how are you?
It’s so good to see you.
I sing you “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”,
You say “that’s a nice song.”
Your love, John, is happy to see you.
Your Lynn, your first born, is delighted to see you.
You serve up delicious pickled beets with onions
That you made just for us, which we snack on before
I teach you how to play skip-Bo.
“Not a fun game,” you say,
But you try a few games.
“How are things with you,” you always say
After you greet me,
After you tell me to take off my coat
And get comfortable.
LOOK AT YOU
Look at you in your white lacy gown
Swaying in the wind
As hummingbirds and bees
Suckle in your blossoms,
Impregnating you a thousand times
While the wind blows your intoxicating fragrance,
Overcoming me under your arms
Where I can foresee your laden branches
Releasing your babies by the hundreds,
To nourish all the creatures
Who know of you
You beautiful, floral Duchess.
Just look at you.
Dawn Paskowicz, 2012
This blog’s offer: contact me if you want to meet up with the Nature Writing Group. And have a beautiful Spring.
Dr. Elaine Wagner Holistic Health 