Dance in the Fire

I had no more alphabet that the swallows in their courses,
the tiny, shining water
of the small bird on fire
which dances out of the pollen
- Pablo Neruda

The legend of the Phoenix appears in several cultures. The basic idea involves a supernatural creature living for 1000 years. At that time, it builds a funeral pyre and throws itself into the flames  As it dies, rebirth occurs to live for another 1000 years. Another version involves the bird laying an egg in the burning coals. When the egg hatches the life cycle repeats.

Theories abound concerning the Phoenix. One involves a colorful bird of wild powers, captured in Asia and sold in another land. Possibly the claims about the bird's powers increased the price. Maybe a peacock, back lit by the setting sun, led someone to believe the bird flew into fire.

Did a hummingbird rise from its nest, its feathers reflecting sunlight?

One theory about the origins of the legend involves a raven dancing in a dying fire.  Ravens will sit over a hot surface such as the dying embers of a fire.  They spread out their wings like we might do in a sauna to enjoy the heat. Or they use the heat to encourage feather mites to find a different home. The sudden resurgence of flames around it causes the bird to take off.  There's the bird rising from the flames. 

Ravens and crows also practice a form of behavior called "anting."  A bird will disturb an ant's nest, spread out its wings and allow ants to run up and down its body. The ants give the bird a massage as they eat feather mites which live on the bird and cause irritation. 

Once someone sees a bird in these situations, stories abound.  

Do you wonder about a bird that dances in the fire?  Write a fable or poem of your own

Nature Journal

 “Frog calls and the sound of intermittent splashings drew me to cross the brook on stepping stones that seemed to have been set out for my passage.  A short push through tall, thick growth brought me to an opening at the edge of a pool where the lowering sun cast an otherworldly light across dark water.  It glimmered in dragonfly wings and sporadic silver-beaded sprays tossed up by leaping frogs.  Sweet songs from unseen birds drifted on the still air.  Everything was new to me, every sight, sound, and smell a new experience. “  David Carroll from Self-Portrait with Turtles

Begin your Nature Journal on location.  Let the subtlety of your landscape soak in. 

Choose several locations: a park bench, a rock ledge at the beach, a forest or any location where you can sit for 15 to 20 minutes at a time.

Capture what the landscape sounds like.

Touch and smell provide a visceral jolt to writing. 

Find out the names of plants, animals and natural forms you observe. 

Free write and let the words direct you.  

Many questions will surface:  Who am I?  Why am I here?  What is my responsibility to nature? 

You will discover how nature teaches rhythms and reverence for change from the migrations of animals to the blossoms of spring.

Try these warm ups:

l. Listen for the sounds of the familiar in your garden: water running, a bird song, dog barks, and wind in trees. What sounds do you identify with home?

2.  Imagine the scent of an orange grove in blossom or a peach tree in the sun. What scents move around you?  What will the sound of rain add? Can you combine the senses in your writing?

3.  Gail Brandeis encourages writers to describe eating a blackberry recklessly. Bring a fruit or vegetable to eat during your journal keeping.  Can you add taste to your writing?

4.  Give flavor and texture to your writing with visual imagery that moves away from the ordinary. Barry Lopez uses raucous purple, coy yellow, prosaic blue, belligerent red.  

5.   Consider the mental senses: pain, fear, love, play, humor, psychic capacity, reason, time and intuition. Can you translate these with concrete descriptions?

Wobble and Wriggle

Lose your way.  Be willing to make mistakes. Wobble to one side, return to upright. Wobble to the other side, then return to upright. This is a practice for human beings. When you lost your way and make mistakes try not to create harm for yourself or others. Ancient masters were not super-beings. They were just people. Lose your way but then return. - Taigen Dan Leighton

Give up on reality today.  Take time for fun and play! 

Try something new.  

Wobble and Wriggle.  

Renew and return.

Let mistakes lead the day.

Go ahead and lose your way.