Selections from “New Songs” and “Camino del Viento”
Featured image: Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, CA, courtesy of NPS
By Rowan Kilduff
clear — the mountaineer; climber at 90
clear — the mountaineer: mountain-mind, river-mind
sky-mind
practical mind;
trail or off-trail — you let it surprise you, climber at 90
working with friends, working alone; getting old doesn’t matter,
just coming here to find the way home
clear-mind
straight and true —
fierce-compassion
fierce-gentleness
fierce-generosity
fierce-joy
fierce-livin’ — because out here you really can.
to protector of the wild and mountaineer Gary Snyder, 2020
Gary Snyder courtesy of Lannan Foundation
right now, here; sunset
a
kestrel
gives
three sharp calls
right now.
swiftly, we go
Rivers
strummin’ full.
Lives like fire.
We all; one big sangha.
Wind light sings true.
sky prayer
sunrise hits you right in the eye
waves / rolling sky
meet
and there, nothing dies.
here I am,
I breathe generations back
I breathe generations forward
the peaceful sky washes me clean
call / answer —
we breathe and
breathe anew.
Rowan Kilduff
___________________
Rowan Kilduff is a dad, mountain-runner, and activist.
He has worked with nonprofits and a lot of D.I.Y projects; as a teacher, a tree-planter, youth events organiser (performing arts, Earth Days); in protected forest; with Greenpeace PL & Czech radio, TEAM Nepal, Friends of the Earth CZ, and is a supporter of A World Without Armies and Leave no Trace; has taken photos for The Irish Seal Sanctuary; has led workshops like ”Practical Ways to Join the Growing Vision of a Sustainable Future” (University Science Night) and talks like ”Star Wars 10 Life Lessons’’ & ‘’On the Off Road.’’ He currently lives in the Czech Rep. with his wife and son with many good friends around. He writes on the connection between ecological and world peace; wilderness; urban hawks and forests.
Find writing in print / online in Rewilding Earth, Wingspan (from the Raptor Research Foundation, US); Dragonfly, Mi’kma’ki, CA; Ecozon@ España; Camas, Montana; PULSE (Planet Drum Foundation, SF); and art in The Fourth River, @ ART FOR PEACE.
