Sing Back the Soul of the Land
Holly Blue Hawkins 1993

Sing to the Land
Mothering songs
Songs of celebration
With your eyes embrace the Land
With your hands set to right what has been cast apart
With your hands carry away what does not belong to the Land
 
Sing
Lovesongs
Magnificats
Lamentations
Celebrations
Lullabyes
 
With your voice
And your heart
And your whole being
Sing back the soul of the Land

Enough
Holly Blue Hawkins 2011 

There was a time when I said
I am a sword beaten into plowshare
but now even that is not a satisfactory image
 
I do not want to do unto the Earth
the violence of a blade gouging my agenda
into a landscape of living soil
but instead to find my way
with careful pitchfork, shovel, trowel and fingers
wafting the pollen of my prayers across the landscape.
 
Let not so much as a humble earthworm
be harmed by my mindless hacking away
I want to be at peace with where things are,
the dirt, compost and mulch,
and let it be as nature Herself lets it be
working with What Is
instead of forcing what I want upon the Divine Plan.
 
It is time now to study the intricate matrix
of plants, soil, and creatures,
and to find my way among them
introducing food crops and ornamentals
that work in harmony and partnership
with what Nature has intended;
learning the power of flow instead of domination,
channeling life force instead of harnessing it,
a mill wheel turning by the impetus of a passing stream
instead of an unforgiving paddle wheel
pushing relentlessly onward
while somewhere in the bowels of a ship
sweaty laborers shovel fuel
stolen from the flanks of the Earth Mother
into a gaping furnace
leaving a trail of ashen tears across the sky.
 
Let the fire that warms my soul
be fueled by gathered windfall
as I gentle my way through my days,
nibbling mature fruit and foliage
from the generosity of harvest gathered with my own hands,
and celebrate a renewed understanding of
what it means to live from hand-to-mouth,
taste the first sun-warmed plums of summer
and gratefully pick the leaves from a kale plant
who has wintered over twice now
without any help from me
and still continues to offer up her food for love.

Earth Breath
Holly Blue Hawkins 2020 

Last night it rained so hard
I awoke as if someone had shaken me
 
Pounding on my roof
torrents fell
until I wondered
if my tender little lettuce starts
were getting beaten to death
 
Now morning sun
lifts this precious bounty
freshly deposited in the forest
back into the air as mist
promenading across the field,
stately as a flock of wild turkeys,
as if the forest were exhaling it
with one long sigh
 
I gaze transfixed,
beholding the gift I’ve received,
this moment
to witness Earth Breath
exhaled by forest
out to sea
breathing fresh life
into this new day