All the Many Flowers

by Laura Parker Roerden A flower is not just a flower. It’s an invitation to dance, to fall into a time and a tempo not of your own wherein lies the meaning of being made of soil and sun, tapped lightly in place by fingers of rain. Don’t miss another post: including #FridayPoems and FromContinue reading “All the Many Flowers”

Lessons of the Wild

by Laura Parker Roerden Click the image to view this previously published article, “Lessons of the Wild” in Schools with Spirit by Beacon Press. lessons_of_the_wild   Laura Parker Roerden is the founding director of Ocean Matters and the former managing editor of Educators for Social Responsibility and New Designs for Youth Development. She serves on the boards of Women WorkingContinue reading “Lessons of the Wild”

The Ways of Water

by Laura Parker Roerden As a child, we had a hand pump over an artesian well by a white, double-decker chicken barn. It was the only water for hundreds of birds growing on that land. The pump required several hard thrusts of the handle to raise the water like spirit, to the surface. Then eachContinue reading “The Ways of Water”

A Coming Hurricane

by Laura Parker Roerden I read today that a flock of seagulls was once trapped in the eye of a hurricane. The birds had sought refuge in the false calm of fair skies, but didn’t realize they now flew through a tunnel of destruction, all ways out blocked by certain devastation. Birds that sense plummetingContinue reading “A Coming Hurricane”

A Small Poem

by Laura Parker Roerden Small things sometimes call us home, like the two birds I saw circling the hay field this morning on my way back from farm chores. Their shrill vibrating whistle, a half warning, half invitation stunned me awake from a deep dream—even though I should have been sufficiently awake from an hourContinue reading “A Small Poem”

The Garden Spider

by Laura Parker Roerden Every single evening in her short life the garden spider spins a web of concentric circles. Each anchored to five or so holdfasts, simple spokes on a wheel, against which everything hinges. Around and around she goes, adding to her work, bridging the distance from one holdfast to another, length byContinue reading “The Garden Spider”

Everything is Broken

by Laura Parker Roerden I. My mother used to talk about the garden she and I would plant together in her retirement, with imperfect peonies, roses, lily of the valley, and tall stands of irises swaying in the breeze facing the western sky of the upper pasture, where the sunset we watched nightly could mirrorContinue reading “Everything is Broken”

Into the Clearing

by Laura Parker Roerden All day long I had lain in the grass and waited for the sun to reach the clearing, though it never did come. The dew from the morning had left my hair damp to the touch; my heart aching for something I had never expected to miss. I knew these woodsContinue reading “Into the Clearing”

Fire and Ice

By Laura Parker Roerden I hate spring. It feels freeing to admit that. When you live in a cold clime, there is too much social pressure to triumph spring’s return as if it were the 2nd coming of Jesus Himself, sliding in on a gaudy skateboard wearing a magnolia wreath and tossing chocolate coins toContinue reading “Fire and Ice”

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