Nadirs & Zeniths

Nadirs & Zeniths

Sunol Foothills

I walk up the curving road,

past vineyards and paddocks.

The straight, dawn light cuts

through rain-wet trees.

I remember someone I’d just

met the last time I walked here,

long ago. Someone I could barely
see in the glare of the new. 

The morning collapses into contrast: 

chiaroscuros of telephone pole,

shaggy ancient olive trees,

many-handed cacti.

Only far from her zenith can the sun

make such angled work of light.

The question comes,

sudden as a puncture:

Do we choose the wrong one

so we can be right?

All the world briefly

shrinks to this question

before the sun magnifies it.

Shatters it.

                       

I stop beneath an oak. In the bowl

of a field stands a blond mare.

The dawn side of her shines,

the other waits in blue shade.

I decide: sides are for fences.

Brightness does blind.

Beginnings only follow

ends and storms.

But I am willing to be wrong.

I step from the graveled shadow

into the sun. The wise light

hits me with a fist of yes. 

Eyes of the Heart: Prophetic Art

My article on prophetic art appears in the Summer 2014 issue of CFN's The Voice magazine. To read it, click the image or click here.

To See the Sounds of Magic

The Islamic holy city of Moulay Idriss, Morocco

This poem was published in Issue 18 of Outside In Literary and Travel Magazine. 

The “I” of Morocco

Roofline of the Fez Medina, Morocco

For Ali, who explained my name to me

In Arabic, my name means I.

Ana this, ana that.

I am called everywhere,

but I am not meant.

So I surrender to the collective self—

I in the souk selling oranges

                  with their leaves on.

I in the café filled with men

                  wondering at a woman.

I in the tannery lifting skins

                  through vats of urine.

I in the child kicking a faded ball

                  down a Medina street.

I in the man pointing to a pastry

                  with a bee stuck in sugar.

I in the petit-taxi holding out

                  a creased hand for coins.

I in the woman rubbing cheese

                  onto squares of fry bread.

I in the singers with blank faces

                  on the brink of desert.

I in the shepherd telling the sheep

                  his dreams.

Now, the world turns ana—

I am the river running beneath

the ancient city

over mountains,

to the sands.

I am dunes, pink in evening.

I am the sky above them as night falls.

The sky—wider than lives,

spacious enough to hold every hand

and turn each finger to a star

that points all I’s home.

Prospecting

Happy Poetry Month! In celebration, here is a little poem that appears in the April issue of the Jacksonville Review. (Click the screen shot to see a larger version.)

Of Danger and Beauty

My essay "Of Danger and Beauty" won a 2014 Best Travel Writing's Gold Solas Award: Adventure Travel

View the published article at Wanderlust & Lipstick.

Following are my own photos of the trip: 

Dawn View of the Dead Sea from the Masada

Shoreline of the Dead Sea with Thermal Pools

Dead Sea Salt Formations

Kibbutz Bomb Shelter

Canyons for Camping

"Compassion First," Indeed

Calling artists near and far! What if a piece of your art could help rescue a victim of sex trafficking? It can. “Artcert,” an annual art auction and concert, will be raising money this year for the relief organization Compassion First.

“From numbers to names,” Compassion First “provides life-giving solutions to child sex-trafficking survivors.” They are “specifically committed to serving in countries that do not already have a strong, Western, nongovernmental organization (NGO) presence in the area of anti-trafficking work.”

Interested in contributing to this vital cause? Artwork needs to be dropped off/received by March 10th at: Living Waters Church, 2200 Roberts Road, Medford OR, 97502. (Office hours: Mon-Wed, 9-12 and 1-4)

For more information, contact Kim Butcher at kim@livingwatersmedford.org.

On a related note, I’ll be teaching a prophetic art workshop called Eyes of the Heart. A portion of the proceeds from the workshop will go toward the Anthem students at Living Waters Church, who will be traveling to the Indonesian branch of Compassion First to help rebuild the shelter for girls saved from sex trafficking.

Come spend February 22nd discovering prophetic art. Not only will you be stepping forward into your own creative destiny, you'll also be helping young girls step into theirs.

You can register through the Eyes of the Heart link at annaelkins.com.