^{Summer patience / K. Vanessa Van Winkle}

Newcomers

We found a Black Widow in our garage.
i’ve been afraid of Spiders most of my life.
The way they move, especially when it’s quickly and across the ground.
Their legs a blur, fluttering as i startle.
“You weren’t there a second ago!” i proclaim.
But they must have been.

Often Spiders are harmless,
going about their day,
searching for their next meal.
The way they’ve always done.

Black Widows, especially the ladies, hold more cards.
They can bite,
often to protect their precious bundle of developing offspring,
inflicting pain, injury, and yes-
in rare cases, death-
upon those they feel threatened by.

I wonder if our resident Black Widow has been afraid of humans her whole life…

The way we move, loudly with heavy steps,
shrieks of, “You weren’t there a second ago!”
echoing off garage floor and walls.

We are the real newcomers,
moving into this house,
shy of one year ago,
moving our family and life
into her space.

We humans have the potential to be harmless;
to go about our days,
in search of our next meal,
to share our open hearts with others,
especially the beings so much smaller than ourselves,
who have been here longer.

We can slow down,
acknowledge we have been startled
and that we have learned to be afraid.
And then,
we can make a conscious choice for compassion.

—WynnyPi

A Better World

I often dream of a better world

That picks climate change solutions

With power produced when turbines whirled

And air is clean with no pollution.

With power from solar during the day,

So, HVACs cool us in our homes,

Make inside pleasant place to stay

When it’s too hot outside to roam.

With storage when the wind is weak,

And the sun don’t shine in dark of night,

That holds the charge from when its peak

For use to heat and make dark light.

So many ways to store the power,

Thermal, chemical, battery,

To save it for another hour,

Compression, also gravity.

Some energy sources are dispatchable:

Geothermal, nuclear fission and fusion, 

Steady production and compatable,

Add waves and tidal for inclusion.

All that power for electrification,

For climate solutions a major foundation

Industry yes and transportation,

For the rest of the world as well as our nation.

Electrified production of concrete and steel,

And fertilizer for producing our food,

That we need for eating at every meal,

And building homes and bridges too.

Electric cars and trucks and bikes,

busses, ferries, motor boats,

Cheap conveyance to our hikes,

Anything that flies or floats.

Reduce the length of our commutes,

And the cost of dwellings,

With denser cities mixed land use,

Make walking home compelling.

Make streets safe to bike and walk,

Add trees to shade the sun,

So passers bye can stop to talk,

And moving can be fun.

So many climate problems solved,

With changes that can make,

Our lives improved for all involved,

So let’s these actions take.

—Steve Ghan

Steve Ghan leads the Tri-Cities Chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby

TRANSFORMATION

Within all realms of earthly form

the seeds of transformation lie,

‘ere how did the first flower bloom,

or an earthbound reptile fly?

One hundred million years ago

in dark, dense rocks deep below,

diamonds formed and crystals glowed.

These flowers, birds, and crystals showed

ethereal beauty, but something more;

a skip, a leap, a sudden shift

in Evolution’s sure and steady lift.

Man came to see within their core

the timeless essence that they bore.

Placed on altars they became

symbols of enlightened forms,

and helped give man’s soul a name.

When we are quiet, alert, and aware,

a flower, crystal, or bird can compare

to a window opening to a deeper space

inside ourselves to a spiritual place,

where the indwelling spirit gives us grace.

In Buddhism it’s the Lotus flower,

and a Christian’s white Dove has symbolic power.

Crystals are healing and oft-times reveal

our innermost knowledge of all that is real.

From this spiritual place we begin to see

a shift in our perception of reality.

Before we saw only what we could use,

conquer, dominate, destroy and abuse.

But, one day, like crystals we’ll rise above

our mind’s dark density,

and become transformed by the light of Love.

—Teri Warner