Poet Gary Snyder, now 93 years old, is currently a professor emeritus of English and continues to live in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Gary is a naturalist poet, and a man of his convictions. He was arrested, but never incarcerated, during his political and environmental activism, because Gary had influenced Daniel Ellsberg to release the controversial Pentagon Papers, which riled Henry Kissinger. Gary is Buddhist and an avowed pacifist. This poem is a direct homage to Gary’s wonderful poem — “How Poetry Comes to Me”, a poem about how Gary metaphorically envisioned his poetic inspiration. His early poetry is part of the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance. He has been described as the “poet laureate of Deep Ecology”.
Poetry comes to me
in the breeze
stirring the trees
in a forest high canopy
in the rustle of leaves
and dried conifer needles
underfoot
hiking
in the drumming
of my footfalls
on old growth root chambers
in the crackle
of a chill
late night
campfire
in the cries, calls
chuffs, growls, and belling
of wild nature
it arrives in the roar
of the rolling waves
of the pacific ocean
crashing on rocky shores
or pounding cliff facades
flanking the oregon coast
thrusting skyward
from the ocean froth
it reveals itself
in a glimpse
of the moon rising
in the misty beams
of sunlight
falling golden
into a forest clearing
it floats
between the notes
of a mellow jazz tune
it comes unbidden
dancing elusively
in and out of my thoughts
it murmurs in the ripples
lapping my drift boat
fishing
a peaceful mountain lake
it comes enwrapped
in the sounds
of pacific northwest
wilderness
it comes in the quiet
deep in the night
when all else
has fallen away
it whispers to me
drawing me deeper
into the mystery
of it all
coaxing me to the edge
of awestruck comprehension
yet leaving me aglow
in brilliant bewilderment
warm in the embrace
of wonderment
compelled to write
Gary at his Nevada City, California, home.
*
rob kistner © 2023
Poetry at: dVerse
