To Persephone

Hi there.

Today I’m sharing a poem written on my return trip to the Pacific Northwest, the land where I fell in love with the Earth. I’m reintegrating back to my temperate adopted home bioregion in Eugene, after four months away to the tropical climates of Costa Rica and the Mediterranean of southern California, where I was born and raised and still find many roots of memories and blood family.

Before we get to the poem, first a couple of…

Upcoming Events

I have two in-person educational events on the horizon. If you live in the Eugene area, I hope you’ll join me for…

• Foraging for Food Security Workshop @ Eugene May Day Celebration, Sunday May 4, 12 p.m. @ the Eugene Park Blocks.

  • Celebrate the season of renewal and the holiday for worker sovereignty with a hands-on introduction to urban foraging! In this 1.5-hour (free!) workshop, we’ll explore the principles and ethics of gathering wild foods close to home—focusing on how to do so safely, respectfully, and sustainably. You’ll get an up-close look at a curated selection of edible "weeds" foraged from the immediate area, with guidance on how to identify, harvest, and use them in your own kitchen or apothecary. Find out more on the event website.

• Spring Green Foraging & Forest Bathing Tour @ Shotgun Creek Recreation Area, Sunday May 11 @ 10:30 - 1:30 p.m.

  • On a 3-4-hour tour blending outdoor education and group meditation this Mother’s Day, I’ll guide you and your group through mindful explorations of a public woodland, providing practical info while also slowing down to experience nature’s calming effects. This edition will focus on identifying and harvesting common edible spring greens like nettles, miner's lettuce, wood sorrel, and more. Sliding scale $35 - 50. Register using the contact form on my homepage.

    
    

Now, where was I…?

Oh yeah — here.

While hiking in the not-yet-thawed foothills of Mount Shasta, in this piece I reflected on the seasonal transformations both the land and I had gone through over the winter I missed. Also present at the time of writing was the conscious integration of the Earth’s maternal feminine aspects in my body and the mythos of the Greek gods from watching a couple episodes of Netflix’s Kaos while visiting with my cousin.

Beneath the written version you can also enjoy a video reading with images captured from the site where I wrote it. Perhaps I’d say more, but, if I can be frank with you dear reader, I really don’t feel like it at the moment. The poem says the rest better than prose could.

Enjoy.

To Persephone

Goddess of Spring, queen of the underworld,

you are the essence of my femininity

unfolding from darkness,

fertile captive of the night.

I draw upon you for peace

amidst any despair of my Fates

and silence of my Muse,

burning for renewal.

Beneath the ice, I hear your trickle

beckoning back early birds

whose songs shatter the frozen quiet

pooled amidst frosted basalt.

You mercurial mistress,

undying mother,

Bless me with each blooming caress

I glimpse only in reflections.

My kind plows your snow

spitting arks over the closed road hillsides,

we pick your flowers

to wilt on temp-controlled mantels.

Yet wherever you go, we follow

with compass, trailer, camera, and basket

to return to the womb with some piece

your cruel patience crafted.

The signs call it re-creation

but every time you come back from the dead

it feels like the first

all over again.