From a Meadow
edged with bay trees
and madrones, past mighty oaks.
Into the heart of the redwoods,
past stone outcroppings
covered in moss, on a carpet
of age-old needles.
Listen.
Who would speak above a whisper,
when The Land whispers
in a voice heard by poets?
Cazadero, that expansive house
of nature. Each meadow or glade
a room. The air of redwood
and fir a cathedral of contemplation.
Who could pass through here
and not become a poet?
This is my response to Poetics: Make some room, from Laura at dVerse Poets Pub, with the prompt to “conjure a room in the literal, functional, metaphorical, imaginary and/or fantastical sense.”
The poem is derived from one of my earliest poems here, at WordPress, Cazadero Whisper. Margaret Fabrizio has been the sole steward of The Cazadero Nature and Art Conservancy in Sonoma County since she acquired those 40 acres in 1986, retaining the natural setting while introducing art installations throughout the forest and meadows of The Land. My other Cazadero poems can be found here.
rivrvlogr 
oh my that makes me think of her so much thank you Ken
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She turned 90 in March, Daniel. I know she’s sequestered in that beautiful home of hers. Hopefully when this is all done, she can get up to The Land.
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Cazadero looks like it would be a neat place to visit. I looked at some of the installations. The ones with “rock and leaves” and “rock and tile” would be easy to do in a yard/garden to great effect. Your poem is like a song, a lovely one.
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Thank you, Lisa. None of the art is imposing, it’s all in harmony.
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That was beautiful. Makes me want to go there.
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Thank you. 🙂
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Now that’s my kind of room. I recently read an advertisement for a very up-scale home. The entry was called the Welcome Room, the garage was called the Motor Room and so on. We lose touch with the forest glades, do we not?
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Yes, and their power to heal.
Thank you. 🙂
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A very creative use of rooms; a lovely and lyrical read. As Joni Mitchell sang, “We’ve got to get back to the garden”.
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Thanks, Glenn.
Joni, yes.
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Earths meditation room. (K)
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It certainly is.
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Who could pass through here
and not become a poet?.
Not I. I lived in the redwoods for 14 years.. and emerged a poet!!
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Of course. And how fortunate!
Thank you, Judy.
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I like the carpet of age-old needles.
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Thanks, Frank. 🙂
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this was a really excellent poem conjuring the atmosphere so beautifully (I had to look up Cazadero!) and I love these lines
“Who would speak above a whisper,
when The Land whispers
in a voice heard by poets?”
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Thank you, Laura. It truly is a special place.
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Beautiful post, and definitely captures the “room” concept. Makes me want to head west! But today we head east … Arkansas for a while … not too far from home to come back if either of us get sick. (We’ll still be isolating, in the Airstream in remote campsite instead of the house in suburbia.)
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Thank you, Jazz.
Embrace those outdoors!
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I love it…especially the last line. I’ll look up the place online. Sounds fantastic.
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Thank you.
Margaret is an accomplished musician, artist, and, now, quilter (just one more extension of her art). As recently as last summer and fall (at 89 years of age), she has made the 2-hour drive north from S.F. numerous times to appreciate and maintain the property.
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I looked her up on the link you provided. Amazing woman and story!
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😀
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So beautiful, Ken–this place must inspire poetry. Such a creative way you handled this prompt.
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Thank you, Merril. It was nearly ten years ago that I visited, and it still inspires.
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I can imagine it would.
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Oh, Wow! This is really a great poem Ken. I have seen the redwoods and fir and you are exactly right. How could one not be a poet after pass through these rooms of Nature!?
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Yes! Thank you, Dwight.
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I love this. From beginning to end, but the questions really bring it home.
What a soothing quality throughout. Who could read this and not be moved?
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😀 Thank you!
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resonates deeply altho I don’t know these trees, a very prayerful poem.
A wondrous tribute to nature
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Thank you. It’s hard not to be moved by the surroundings.
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agree totally!
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So beautifully written!
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Thank you. 🙂
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The forest is just full of rooms… some are small chambers, but your cathedrals are worth remembering.
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Thank you, Björn. Each of the rooms there is inspiring.
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What a lovely and peaceful poem Ken.
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Thank you, Linda.
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STUNNING! And oh so very very true. The redwoods, the Norwegian fjiords, the Grand Canyon, the Tetons….so many places of grandeur in nature. Loved this take on the prompt!
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Thank you, Lillian. 🙂
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