Stone Circle Press - Pegi Eyers ► Ecopoetics

Walking the Land ~ Chant #1

4/21/2021

Pegi Eyers

This chant holds the tension, or unresolved paradox, of loving the Earth with one's entire heart and soul, and yet still being a Settler on Indigenous lands. In 2018 the Williams Treaties First Nations and the Ontario and Canadian governments came to an agreement, settling the litigation started in 2012.

I am an ecocultural weaver
Of the old and the new,
Senistrognata in the blood
Nogojiwanong sings to the soul.

I am a creature of Earth
I belong to Her only.
I am a creature of Earth
I belong to Her whole-y.

I have given my heart to the Earth,
She holds the warp and weft of me.

Walking these hills
I meet leaf, rune, stone
Weaving over and under
In, out and through -
Stories in feather and ice.

I have given my heart to the Earth,
She holds the warp and weft of me.

I am a creature of Earth
I belong to her only.
I am a creature of Earth.
I belong to her whole-y.

I am an ecocultural weaver
Of the old and the new,
Senistrognata in the blood
Nogojiwanong sings to the soul.

Pegi Eyers at Stone Circle Farm, April 2021, Otonabee Watershed

Pegi Eyers is the author of Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community, an award-winning book that explores strategies
for social justice, ethnocultural identity, the ancestral arts, building land-
emergent community and resilience in times of massive change.

Encounter at Dusk

2/21/2021

PEGI EYERS

Walking a forest border at dusk, the sweet and verdant air tastes of deep leafy green, the ruffled and angled clouds an exultant magenta in the darkening sky, black crows in community soar high over the peninsula to night-time nesting, smaller birds dive in arcs and songlines of chime and whistle, mosquito bites, and I am blessed to encounter a mother deer and fawn. I speak in human tones of love, she listens, she wiggles her ears and tail, she relaxes, her sweet baby unconcerned. I watch, we wait, I walk away, the forest retains its mystery still. Night falls, the Great Heart is vibrant in miracles, here - the green world flourishing.

02/21/2021

Pegi Eyers is the author of Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community, an award-winning book that explores strategies
for social justice, ethnocultural identity, the ancestral arts, building land-
emergent community and resilience in times of massive change.

Treelines

11/22/2020

PEGI EYERS

ONE

following the river's edge
careful - rushing waters
discovery ~
sacred grove of cedar

past thickets and vines
saplings mark the way
dead end
how to find the circle?

tangled boundaries
forest floor is glowing
crawling in - I find the center
of wonder

looking up
etched branches reach skyward
sacred dome - a pause
there it is

the silence of the world

05/14/2019

"Sacred Cedars" painting © Cedar Lee

TWO

wild grapevine and deadfall
pushing down,
young trees pinned
life force restricted

with saw and snips
I remove the bonds
saplings spring back,
face skyward
limbs and buds fly free

human in service to tree,
all beings have a place in the forest

05/10/2019

Photo Art © Ghanshyam Savani

THREE

the path I take
winds left and right
down the hill
through a thicket
out of sight
across a glade

bathed in moonlight
stark shadows appear
serrated, razor-sharp
the treeline is summoning

no fear
there are few dangers in the forest
into the comforting darkness
I fall

05/18/2019

photography by Robert Hood

FOUR

Ironwood I pass by
morning, noon and night
rolling farmland
branches in breathtaking symmetry
beauty calls out

perfect presence stops time
fibonacci sequence
so close to home
photo in the moment
extra water in times of drought

all trees are flawless
but this companion
especially so ~
whispers of love
reciprocity, devotion

like a hand flung up
to touch the heavens

05/13/2019

FIVE

water flows and ripples
dense shade above
cool stream below
tall and slim - foundation species
iconic Eastern Hemlock
influencing the Circle of All Life

deeply furrowed trunk
reddish hues
Holding snowmelt into spring
surrounded by younger siblings
beauty resides
deep in Burnham Woods

her Hemlock motherline
a seedling in 1600
spanning centuries
monumental beings
now faded to rich loam
generations of hope
cycling through time

05/15/2019

Eastern Hemlock - Ontario’s Forest Cathedrals

SIX

shiny and new
tiny pine seedlings
in the tray
warm and well-lit

the tree-planter's gift
firm but gentle
a soft touch
easy landing on Mother Earth

set out to thrive
essence of loam
rows in the sun
wind and rain just right

from seedling to giant
you rise to the sky

05/09/2019

SEVEN

wind and rain
wind and rain
it's gone on for weeks
I've lost count
your leaves are frayed
your bark is bruised

branches hit the ground
wind and rain
wind and rain
it's gone on for weeks
please stop
it's hard to breathe

stand tall, my rooted kin
weaving blessings in the forest

05/09/2019

© Keith Dotson Photography

intelligent trees
sentient beings
are fighting to survive

06/13/2019

Pegi Eyers is the author of Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community, an award-winning book that explores strategies
for social justice, ethnocultural identity, the ancestral arts, building land-
emergent community and resilience in times of massive change.

The City is the Backdrop to the Wild

11/17/2020

PEGI EYERS

Inner city trails
Rustlings at the fence-line
I see you
Dashes of fur, cottontail poised
Human voice soft and low
No danger
Rewilding in corner lots
Boulders of the Canadian Shield
Marking grids
Subdivisions long forgotten
Fox pair nesting in the long grass
Red Cardinal glides
Like a leaf in autumn
🍂
Paths and tracks
In the urban jungle
I see you
Squirrel through the slats
Vines winding round the gate
Closed for countless seasons
How many sunsets have you seen?
Grandmother Tree
At least 250 years of wisdom
You are visible from space
The original cathedral
The Sacred
Right beside the mall
🍂
Sweet warm autumn in the city
The trail beckons
I see you
Winding past civic markers
Sirens blaring
Freeways humming
All is still
In the urban forest
Soft songs waiting
Voices of plants and trees
The creatures the elements
Finding harmony
In a lost world
🍂
Trans-Canada Trail through Peterborough, Ontario
Hike November 5, 2020

"Foxes" painting by Elisabeth Handelsby

Pegi Eyers is the author of Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community, an award-winning book that explores strategies
for social justice, ethnocultural identity, the ancestral arts, building land-
emergent community and resilience in times of massive change.

Fur Beak Bone

11/17/2020

PEGI EYERS

There cannot be a Christianity
False angels -
Our souls are fur, beak, bone
Let the winged ones capture the skies.

Original image and poetry by Pegi Eyers
With thanks to Pat Fenwick for animation

Pegi Eyers is the author of Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community, an award-winning book that explores strategies
for social justice, ethnocultural identity, the ancestral arts, building land-
emergent community and resilience in times of massive change.

Great Heart & Green Arms Holding

11/16/2020

PEGI EYERS

did you know that you were loved?
you - admired and adored, claimed
by your beauty and grace?

both the first time,
and then the second time you were killed

scraped up like so much debris -
your spunky heart, growth spurt
not taking die for an answer

the second round
dealt the killing blow
you had survived so much already

earth ancestors past the bridge
take note -

Our Beloved has fallen
to a massive set of steel-trapped earth-busting
green-crunching jaws

how do killers sleep at night?

Photography by Pegi Eyers
"Trees Lost at Stone Circle Farm"
Summer Solstice 2020

Pegi Eyers is the author of Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community, an award-winning book that explores strategies
for social justice, ethnocultural identity, the ancestral arts, building land-
emergent community and resilience in times of massive change.

Green Story Cycle

11/16/2020

PEGI EYERS

wild nature waits
for spirits to rise
I enter
and find the sacred

walls of denial
cannot stop me today
primordial undercurrent

green hearts
green time
green love
the world of man
is the abstraction

nothing you can do or say
can take away
the ecodigeneity
of my soul

hearts on fire
flowing on the river of time
or grounded in deep forest
our tree limbs
kiss the sky

mid-March
where are the tendrils
of green hope?

tree bark, warm to the touch,
am I frozen or simply waiting?
sacred fire is mirrored in ice

Natura
waits in the darkness
a conspiracy of
deep time
deep knowing
spring rains

She animates the landscape
once again

green spirit
come to me
in that timeless dance
of Earth Love

Art by Rob Ryan

green sends power
living land energy
I revive, awaken
into sacred space again

strum the chords of time
little ones
Sing
of what is precious on this Earth
Sing
of the Ancient Voices
before the arrival of machines

Standing Ones!
your roots woven in community
open green hearts
green minds
green spirits
in humanity today

Art by Umit Koseoglu

woodland ragged as rocks
earth dwellers
fertile soil
primal sound
for those who knew this land in ancient times

leaves cascading
blowing trees
silence

Pegi Eyers is the author of Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community, an award-winning book that explores strategies
for social justice, ethnocultural identity, the ancestral arts, building land-
emergent community and resilience in times of massive change.

Tiny Wings

11/16/2020

PEGI EYERS

Yes it's that time again
End of summer
Finale, fruition,
Culmination, conclusion

The last blow-out

Our swallows have left
for the Carolinas

Three nests blessed
Our porch this baked season
Sweet baby heads
Rising up over the rim

Beautiful colony feeding
music to the ears

Then stronger and stronger
Tiny wings pulsing off into the sky

In the field, yesterday I saw deer
joining horses to graze

A small miracle to heal the broken heart

Pegi Eyers is the author of Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community, an award-winning book that explores strategies
for social justice, ethnocultural identity, the ancestral arts, building land-
emergent community and resilience in times of massive change.

Familiar Ground

11/16/2020

PEGI EYERS

deep wet mired core of being
reveal, return
drop and repose

each layer translucent yet firm
a pinch of earth
a fragment of fire

spirals in the water

from the gathering pool
(the source of divine intervention)
feathers of brine reach out
like etched tears

and love lifts up,

a fine mist
from broken lines and crevices

old magic,
waiting to be born

the body will be buried in the spring

Pegi Eyers is the author of Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community, an award-winning book that explores strategies
for social justice, ethnocultural identity, the ancestral arts, building land-
emergent community and resilience in times of massive change.

Slate Blue

11/16/2020

PEGI EYERS

wind-filled heights,
dome of haze,
a humid touching,
black raven calls

The lake, slate blue
quiet glinting waves,
long soft grass
tiny white butterfly hovers

Pegi Eyers is the author of Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community, an award-winning book that explores strategies
for social justice, ethnocultural identity, the ancestral arts, building land-
emergent community and resilience in times of massive change.