After three days of intense relational engagement and group discernment, I’m not quite able to find the words to begin to describe the weekend that was EVDC09. But in the meantime, I wanted to post a couple of poems that came out of our time together.
from my ‘nature’ walk around the Adams Morgan neighborhood of DC and down to Rock Creek Park:
dandelion
out of the chaos
the dissonance
the caucaphony all around
pushing, pulling, striving, yearning, milling
there is a resonance
a harmony
an eco-system
people inhale
trees exhale
people exhale
trees inhale
one great grand collective cooperative
will to live
walk down the hill
nod at the person
running up the hill
namaste:
the holy in me
honors the holy in you
U
down in to death
and back up to life
life
from the trammelled earth
emerge flowers
(or are they weeds?)
grand acts
of audacious creativity
scattered across the ground
hope giving life
life giving hope
a piece that came when I was feeling frustrated for EV’s legacy of provocative, creative, and artistic expression which all too often reaches the cul-de-sac of consumer demand for more of it, rather than inspiring creativity:
a lament for creativity
creativity ought to be contagious
a spark that starts a blaze
not the privilege of a few
but the lifeblood of many
yet ours is a world
of museums and bookshelves
a wasteland of ideas
sterility, observation,
ascent, interest
inspiration is an invitation
to adventure
grab the rudder,
take the wave,
pick up a pen,
sing your song
we’re starving out here
and you’re hoarding
speak, share
lead, feed
unburden yourself
* * *
this poem is lousy, yes
but it is mine
my creative act
a yelp for the world to hear
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I love that your first offerings are poetry – beautiful honest and raw. thanks Mike
These are not lousy, and thanks for making yourself vulnerable by sharing them. I have many poems that I’ve penned, but I’ve only shared very few. Its tough because poetry comes from a deeper place then most writing.
Keep the pen moving with your heart.
yelp my brother. yelp creation!! yelp trees of the field!!
thanks for the rides and housing too!
Is it weird that my first response was the added $value$ to your moleskine?
i dream of a day when mike stavlund can share a quick poem he wrote in the grips of beauty or pain …
and not apologize for it.
seriously — both poems breath and are breathtaking.
I love these, Mike – particularly your deft incorporation of Theory U.
Reminds me of a certain Barbaric Yawp!