by elizabeth e.
Member since:
January 6, 2006

Thoroughwort for My Soul

December 12, 2007 06:10 AM EST
views: 74 | rating: 10/10 (25 votes) | comments: 64

          Through stately pine forests

                no sounds are heard except 

                        the crunch of leather

                                on newly fallen snow

        This stillness, this solitude

              this wildness meander

                  is a kind of boneset

                      to my soul.

 

 

 

http://media-files.gather.com/images/d422/d504/d744/d224/d96/f3/full.jpg

 

 

 

http://media-files.gather.com/images/d417/d504/d744/d224/d96/f3/full.jpg

 

 

 http://media-files.gather.com/images/d416/d504/d744/d224/d96/f3/full.jpg

 The other day when I was out collecting greens for some holiday baskets, I  collected the stems of purple boneset, commonly known as Joe-Pye weed or in earlier days as thoroughwort,  because they would add color to my arrangements.  As I was working I thought about how Native Americans and early settlers in this country used this perennial plant for making teas to treat fever or colds.  Tonight looking at one of these displays these words came to my mind.
link to this page
Bookmark this post:
Facebook
Twitter
Delicious
Buzz
More

Comments: 64

Danielle P. Dec 12, 2007, 6:18am EST
Absolutely beautiful pictures and the poem.
Deborah O. Dec 12, 2007, 6:19am EST
beautiful poem and pictures
Keep on going on ;-o
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 7:05am EST
Thanks Danielle for stopping by this morning. Walking in white pine woods after a newly fallen snow produces such a calmness to the mind.
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 7:07am EST
Thanks Deborah...seeing your icon this morning made me realize I hadn't changed my Advent Calender for today. I see you are doing the same thing, only with articles.
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 8:11am EST
With a calm heart, Rose, I need to be off in Santa's sleigh for another day of holiday cheer in kindergarten. The wee ones are just crazy this week....holiday madness, I call it!
This was wonderful, Bob. The pictures and verse were so serene.

Looking at the pictures, I couldn't help but reflect on how we look at scenes like that at this time of the year and marvel at the beauty, but come March, we'll snarl at them.
Nancy S. Dec 12, 2007, 8:54am EST
Lovely pictures. I could walk there.
Yvonne F. Dec 12, 2007, 8:55am EST
The poem and the photographs are really good, thank you for sharing them
Faith H. Dec 12, 2007, 8:56am EST
Beautiful verse and pictures, Bob! Thanks for giving me winter in absentia.
Roy ☯ Hilbinger Dec 12, 2007, 8:59am EST
A perfect match of pictures and verse. Thanks, Bob!
Kathryn E. Dec 12, 2007, 9:00am EST
Exceptionally beautiful, Bob. Truly poetic brillaince through stillness; so fitting for the scenery and Native American.

I don't know how you got such beautiful, professional macros.Exquisite.
Kathryn E. Dec 12, 2007, 9:01am EST
Bob, this is a Feature in Wednesday Writing Essentials.
Pamela L. Dec 12, 2007, 9:13am EST
I've visited the north only once. I was fascinated to see (in person) so many "straight up" trees, growing so close to each other, reaching so high. I had never seen such a thing. I can only imagine the scene you describe, walking on real snow, the only sounds you hear are the sounds you make ......
San Antonio was in the 80's yesterday, muggy and a little slushy.
Debbie G. Dec 12, 2007, 9:22am EST
Bob, you bring the deep silence of the winter back to me with this piece. Not silent, but changed. I could hear a pine needle fall. :) Exquisite photos.
Vicky Duggins Dec 12, 2007, 10:03am EST
Just beautiful pictures and words. I wish I could like this season.
jessie voigts Dec 12, 2007, 10:44am EST
my gosh, i am just in awe of the beauty you've presented to us. thank you!
flit . Dec 12, 2007, 11:42am EST
you make winter look so much less yucky than it is!
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 12:19pm EST
Amy, I need to see the C.S. Lewis film....as each young son reached the age of eight or nine, a trip for Narnia was a journey we would take. You are right, my woods do look like I have stepped through the back of the wardrobe into the Land of Aslan.
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 12:27pm EST
Ina...you are just so funny...come March if I still am wolking in a snow fallen wood, I will rejoice because maybe global warming isn't as BAD as Gore says. But I pretty well trust that guy...by March, we'll have little crocuses (or is it croci) pushing through the soil.
Beryl Singleton Bissell Dec 12, 2007, 12:39pm EST
An exquisite sensory poem, Elizabeth. For some reason, I also heard the creak of leather as in a saddle ... not that horses and I have much in common but how lovely it would be to take a winter ride through a snowy woods. You must be a naturalist. I'm putting in a petition to be a naturalist in my next life.
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 12:46pm EST
Hey, Nancy, come on over...and together as we hike I will show you the treasures of a woodland walk...really great for the soul...far better then any drug.
Cecile V. Dec 12, 2007, 1:01pm EST
Outstanding!!!!
Tom C. Dec 12, 2007, 2:11pm EST
Bob - This is so familiar - I loved it. Your evocation of the crunching of snow places me in the forest, strolling, lolling, looking for peace both in herb and in space. It seems that in groves of bare trees and bushes I can sense their aroma, sort of like feeling their aura, and I have often imagined that the cruncing snow releases a vibe from the day in which it was crystalized and laid out as a kind of natural bubblepak waiting for us to burst the bubbles and release the spirit back into the air. Maybe you did inhale thoroughwort, and your soul is the better for it. Happy Holidays!
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 3:58pm EST
Thanks Yvonne for stopping by.

Oh, flit, you just give such a laugh sometimes. No, I don't like black, ice roads, or stepping into slush in parking lots. For that matter, I don't like shoveling the stuff. But a walk out in the woods in winter...that's heaven.
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 4:18pm EST
Oh faith..."winter in absentia"...sounds like the new Wii games. I guess one can play golf or basketball "in absentia". Actually on NPR the other day I heard Wii's are selling like hot cakes in Nursing Homes...along with the Wii, many residents are buying the "Racing" video so they can simulate driving a car once more. Maybe thw Wii can do the same for a walk in the woods!
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 4:34pm EST
Roy, strange as it may seem, I'm actually beginning to like this thing called poetry. Before Gather I don't think I seriously read a poem in forty years....well, maybe one or two. And I certainly never thought I would write it! But being on Gather almost a year I've read some pretty fine pieces and I think it's almost like a tutorial. What did that poet do to invoke such an emotion? How much is too much? Reading Faith, Jan H., and Minnie have given me an appreciation for paring down word images. I know I have a long way to go but everyone on Gather is so positive in their encouragement.

Still at school... already dark out there and when I get home I still need to walk Tuck
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 4:44pm EST
Kathryn, I don't know how I do it either. Magi keeps asking me all about the digital carolyn, faith and I gave him and I feel like a dummy...I have no answers for him. I just frame and click! A long time ago someone said I had the "Eye" what ever that means... I think I just look for interesting images...angles...and shadows. Take for instance yesterdays image, I don't "see" a sewing machine and highchair...I see memories of times long past. I know I'm weird!

Hey, thanks for featuring me in Writing Essentials.
Bob, everything about this is just beautiful!
I'm also featuring it in the Chat & Connections Garden Cafe.
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 7:06pm EST
Hey Reena, thanks for stopping by. I bow to you.
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 7:15pm EST
Pamela L., I love that expression .... "straight up trees" ...never really thought of them that way but the image is right...they do grow straight up.

What I find so interesting about my white pine woods is that after a snow there is yet a second snow for when there is a slight breeze, snow-dust falls from their high plumes...like love notes or confetti, saying welcome to this wood.
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 7:49pm EST
Guyana Debbie G....going into the deep wood, one does feel akin to something far greater then that which you left by the fireplace...in solitude one walks, through snow untracked by man, traveling like a pilgrim, in unchartered seas.
Edward Nudelman Dec 12, 2007, 8:17pm EST
beautiful verse and just a gorgeous posting, Elizabeth!
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 9:31pm EST
Tom, I think everyone needs a wee drop of purple boneset every once in awhile in this mad, mad world. I just happen to find mine wandering these side aisles of a pine cathedral. If I listen really closely, though silence is all around, I can almost hear a choir chanting from the depths of the earth.
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 9:38pm EST
magi, last night I wandered silently into Magi's Cafe and though no one was around, I settled in a big over-stuff chair and started reading some of your earlier poems. Later, when going through my images trying to decide which to post for my holiday icon, I chanced to see these images and the words just came. Perhaps you were my muse...I know not...I just wrote them down.

Guyana for featuring me in Chat and Connections Garden Cafe.
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 9:39pm EST
Thanks, Cecile for stopping by. I imagine you have similar feelings when you wander through old ghost towns.
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 9:44pm EST
Beryl, Thoreau, Beston and Burroughs I have known and like them, I have always had a courtship with nature. I just finished Annie Dillard's "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" and highly recommend it to anyone hoping to be a naturalist in their next life.
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 9:45pm EST
What can I say Ed...I am trying!
elizabeth e. Dec 12, 2007, 9:47pm EST
Thanks Jessie, flit and Vicky for stopping by. It's almost 10 and I've been up since four best put this body to bed.
O.K. now I miss the Snow too!
at least I have wonderful people like you that post great photos for me
Carolion Grailbear Dec 12, 2007, 10:42pm EST
Reminds me of Home. THAT one.
Minakshi w. Dec 13, 2007, 3:44am EST
Bob, your poems are treasures. As are the images in this poem.
I know how this serene hush of snow inspires our muse. Enjoy the season, Bob. Look after yourself !
I have been looking for you and Magi...at skype. No one there :(
elizabeth e. Dec 13, 2007, 6:56am EST
Jules, thank you so much for introducing me to the Twelve Days of Christmas, Celtic style! Wow...heard it on Utube this morn!
elizabeth e. Dec 13, 2007, 6:57am EST
I know the HOME you are talking about carolion!
elizabeth e. Dec 13, 2007, 6:59am EST
Marianne, one early Spring I saw the snow in Germany on the Romantic Road...south of Munich. Exquisite, those snowy hills!
elizabeth e. Dec 13, 2007, 7:00am EST
Minnie, we'll catch up on Skype this week-end.... magi promises it will be a Gathering of Souls!
Barbary Chaapel Dec 13, 2007, 4:22pm EST
Bob,

Simply beautiful photos and words, every pine needle defined.
What a photographer you are!
Laurun M. Dec 13, 2007, 5:00pm EST
I love Joe-Pye weed. It really works. This is a beautiful poem and your pictures are beautiful. Have a very Merry Christmas Bob.
elizabeth e. Dec 13, 2007, 5:34pm EST
Sheer madness this afternoon, Rose...snow started about 11 and by noon at least an inch. Other schools in the surrounding areas were having early dismissal...but not us. Buses started arriving about 3:45 but because the driving was slow some buses didn't come till 4:40. Roads were just treacherous on the way home...I went like 20 miles an hour...windshield wipers were having a difficult time keeping up. Sure was glad when I saw my driveway..but then of course I had to get out and shovel a spot for my car. After I warm up a bit, need to go and shovel some more...must be at least a foot out there already.

Be glad you are in Florida!
elizabeth e. Dec 13, 2007, 5:42pm EST
Guyana Barbary for stopping by. I must say that first photo did thrill me when I downloaded it.
elizabeth e. Dec 13, 2007, 5:44pm EST
Good evening Laurun...is the Cape getting as hard hit as southeastern Mass. Slow drivin' home tonight...slippin' and slidin' all over the place. Should of taken the four-wheel drive to school today.
Bhawana 'Gather Proud Mom' Dec 13, 2007, 8:56pm EST
wow..wow...wow....This is stunning and now I miss more Connecticut...I can't see any snow in LA...:(



Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Your readers applaud you, Bob. Let the poetry flow forth, my friend.
TD (aka: JaneDough) Dec 14, 2007, 5:03am EST
Just lovely. I especially love that first photo.
elizabeth e. Dec 15, 2007, 11:22am EST
Bhawana, I can send you some SNOW by UPS...I have more then enough!
elizabeth e. Dec 15, 2007, 11:23am EST
Magi, in order for the poetry to flow, I need more white coffee, not vegemite, mind you...coffee!
elizabeth e. Dec 15, 2007, 11:24am EST
Guyana TD for stopping by. Your Peace Candle articles have just been wonderful.
elizabeth e. Dec 15, 2007, 11:25am EST
Rosie....another storm is coming TOMORROW!!!!! Yikes!

Join the Conversation
Chime in! Become a Gather member to comment.
Already a member? Sign in
top
 
Gather | Friends | Groups | Share
About Gather | Engagement Marketing | Make New Friends | Gather Points | Advertise on Gather | Gather Press | Privacy | Terms of Service | Community Guidelines
Books | Celebs | Entertainment | Family | Food | Health | Moms | Money | News | Politics | Spirituality | Sports | Travel | Writing
Version 16865, "Oz"; Copyright © 2009 Gather Inc. All rights reserved.