So I thought instead of sharing more about my grief, today I’ll share something my mom wrote. A poem that I think says a lot about who she was as a person, and the ways she influenced my own spiritual path.
Southern Utah was a special place for her. As a college student, she spent a summer working at Bryce National Park. And a few years later upon becoming an elementary school teacher she worked in Moab, near Arches National Park.
As I was growing up she became a member of the Utah State Poetry Society. She treasured attending those meetings, sharing writings and bonding with like-minded souls. The following poem was published in their 2005 anthology, Utah Sings. I always thought it was poignant, but it has taken on new layers of meaning for me now.
I’m not sure how to express this, but it is a tender thing for me to share. I hope this poem gives you a small glimpse into her essence. Thank you for being here.
Red Rock Therapy in Arches Park
At first this red world
whispers death threats,
sunstroke, snakebite, dehydration,
waste your water or lose the trail
and start slow-baking here
in the fiery furnace.
I conserve my water and stay on the trail.
Crossing sure-footed over slickrock,
I become as confident as the lizard.
A sky blanket as rich and blue as melted turquoise
wraps itself around sandstone, sagebrush,
cryptogamic soil and me.
Solid spires sculpted by time
make wrinkles seem like possibilities.
I begin to hear the larger voice.
Everything here is alive.
I am as permanent
as the prickly pear,
as vast as the multi-layered horizon,
as important as a single
grain of sand.
— Jennie Mallon