EARTH ELDERS
EIGHTH ANNUAL POETRY READING

THE STAGE IS SET, THE READERS ARE READY.

Yes

It could happen any time, tornado,
earthquake, Armageddon. It could happen.
Or sunshine, love, salvation.

It could you know. That's why we wake
and look out--no guarantees
in this life.

But some bonuses, like morning,
like right now, like noon,
like evening.

- William Stafford

When Your Ship

When your ship, long moored in harbor
gives you the illusion of being a house,
put out to sea.

Save your boat’s journeying soul,
and your own pilgrim soul,
cost what it may.

- Helder Camara

Song of the Builders

On a summer morning
I sat down
on a hillside
to think about God -

a worthy pastime.
Near me, I saw
a single cricket;
it was moving the grains of the hillside

this way and that way.
How great was its energy,
how humble it effort.
Let us hope

it will always be like this,
each of us going on
in our inexplicable ways
building the universe.

- Mary Oliver

The Guest House

This being human is a guest-house
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
Who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture.

Still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

- Jelalludin Rumi

The Rhythm of Each

I think each comfort we manage-
each holding in the night, each opening
of a wound, each closing of a wound, each
pulling of a splinter or razored word, each
fever sponged, each dear thing given
to someone in greater need-each
passes on the kindness we've known.

For the human sea is made of waves
that mount and merge till the way a
nurse rocks a child is the way that child
all grown rocks the wounded, and how
the wounded, allowed to go on, rock
strangers who in their pain
don't seem so strange.

Eventually, the rhythm of kindness
is how we pray and suffer by turns,
and if someone were to watch us
from inside the lake of time, they
wouldn't be able to tell if we are
dying or being born.

- Mark Nepo

What I Have Learned So Far

Meditation is old and honorable, so why should I
not sit, every morning of my life, on the hillside,
looking into the shining world? Because, properly
attended to, delight, as well as havoc, is suggestion.
Can one be passionate about the just, the
ideal, the sublime, and the holy, and yet commit
to no labor in its cause? I don't think so.

All summations have a beginning, all effect has a
story, all kindness begins with the sown seed.
Thought buds toward radiance. The gospel of
light is the crossroads of -- indolence, or action.

Be ignited, or be gone.

- Mary Oliver

EARTH ELDERS ADDRESS GLOBAL WARMING

How can we who consider ourselves “elders" contribute to the emerging efforts to stop global warming and protect our planet for future generations?

Earth Elders in Sonoma County (California) are wrestling with these questions. We want to “do something” that will make a positive difference for the future of our planet. We wonder if there is some special role for us twenty first century elders, given the perils facing our planet and the large numbers of elders now living longer than ever before.

We invite you to join this conversation. What are your concerns as an elder living on the planet at this time? What are your thoughts and ideas abouto how elders can stop global warming? Are you also struggling to find “what to do” and “how best” to put your passion for a sustainable future into action?

Share your thoughts and ideas with us. Perhaps, working together, we can begin to find “an elder way” to address global w arming – a legacy for our children and grandchildren that reflects our commitment to a just, sacred and sustainable Earth for all beings.

Thank you.
Connie Mahoney, PhD
Founder, Earth Elders

If you care to respond, contact elder@eldertimes.org and I will forward your message to Connie Mahoney.