for the need of ritual — a poem

Blue Fountain ©2016 Bo Mackison

Blue Fountain ©2016 Bo Mackison

for the need of ritual

for greetings. for departures.
for days of fulfillment. nights of peace.
a ritual for dreams. for desires.
for sorrow. joy. praise.

a ritual for dawn. sunrise. morning. day.
for evening. sunset. twilight. night.
for dark skies. luminous moon. stars above.

a ritual for beginnings. middles. endings.
for seed. sprout. bud. blossom. seed head.

a ritual for paper and pencil. for written word. spoken word.
for poetry that inspires. that awes. that bleeds the heart dry.
for the gasp. for the sigh. for the song.

a ritual for gratitude. apology. forgiveness.
for fortitude. for solitude.

a ritual for fear. for grief. for anger. for sadness.
for joy. for ease. for comfort.

a ritual for traveling to places unknown.
a ritual for holding. staying. and release.

a ritual for sanctuary. for rest.
for acceptance. for contentment.

a ritual for the threshold. the transition.
for the need of ritual.

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Ritual practice is the activity of cultivating extraordinary ordinariness. ~ Ronald L. Grimes

 

Art in the Gardens

Spikes and Yellow Fountain, Olbrich Gardens, Madison Wisconsin

Spikes and Yellow Fountain ©2012 Bo Mackison

I sit in my garden, gazing upon a beauty that cannot gaze upon itself.  And I find sufficient purpose for my day.  ~Robert Brault

Some gardens are just meant for sitting. There are nooks and crannies, places to sit and watch what goes on in a garden. One of my favorite benches is tucked in a corner of the botanical gardens in Madison. I sit there, take a few photographs, listen to the fountain waters trickle over this yellow pottery container and drip upon the pebbles, and do a little people watching, too.

Inflatable Sculptures in Olbrich Gardens

Inflatable Sculpture © 2012 Bo Mackison

Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help.
  ~ May Sarton

Placed in half hidden places in Olbrich Gardens, there are several new sculptures by  Sturgeon Bay (Wisconsin) artist, Robert Anderson. He constructs large-scale sculptures out of metals and fills them with compressed air so that they expand.

Expanding Sculpture, Olbrich Gardens, Madison Wisconsin

Expanding Sculpture at Olbrich ©2012 Bo Mackison

Beauty is the adjustment of all parts proportionately so that one cannot add or subtract or change without impairing the harmony of the whole.
~ Leon B. Alberti

Every time I visit the gardens, the sculptures look a little different. I love this aluminum sculpture constructed of triangles. Half hidden in one of the natural gardens, it reminds me of a shiny serpent wending its way through tall grasses.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Walking (and sitting) in the area gardens is one of Bo’s daily pleasures.

Reflections of Water Lilies

Reflections of Water Lilies

Reflections of Water Lilies © 2012 Bo Mackison

No one can see their reflection in running water. 
It is only in still water that we can see. ~ Taoist proverb

Garden walk. Garden pond. Lily pads. Resting frogs. Quiet waters. Wispy reflections. Tall stems. Lilies flowering. Slight breeze. Rippling pond. Dancing reflections.

 

August Break 2012

 

Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is taking an August break from writing long blog posts, but the garden walks and the photos continue.


Staying Dry

Girls with Umbrella in NYBG Conservatory

Girls with Umbrella © 2012 Bo Mackison

Fountain photographed at the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory at the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. The Conservatory is a National Historic Landmark.

August Break 2012

I am joining Susannah Conway’s “The August Break 2012 – looking at August through your camera lens as a way to be more present this summer. And to have a little break from the pressures and  expectations of blogging”  It’s everyday blogging with fewer words.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  She is working through a backlog of photos she’s taken this summer, while she enjoys a partial August Break.

This week: New York City.

Wisconsin River Sand Bars

Lake Wisconsin Sand Bars, Driftless Area, Southwest Wisconsin

Wisconsin River Sand Bars © 2012 Bo Mackison

When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last that has gone before and
the first of what is still to come.”  Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo has a way with words. And I love the visual that comes to me when I read his words. “Put your hand in a flowing stream.” It needs to be a river or a stream, even a creek if there’s been rain. An ocean won’t do. Nor a sea. It needs to be a fast-moving stream, flowing past, the current pushing your hand in the direction of the flow.

Have you ever hung out with a river, maybe sprawled on a boat dock that sticks its edge into the river’s middle, sprawled on your belly, head cradled in one arm, your other arm stretching out, stretching down into the flowing river. Even in a the hot summer, even in the middle of a record-breaking heat scorcher, the river water still runs cool.

Just the thought of submerging my arm into the river makes me feel cooler.

As for the quote, I love this way of saying “stay in the present.” Once the moment has passed, it has passed. And you can’t rush the future – the flowing water will reach you at the very moment of the present, whether you want it to hurry up or slow down.

Hmm, two thoughts to consider from a single quote. Leonardo was one versatile guy!

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The river scene was photographed a few miles before we crossed the Wisconsin River on the bridge at Blue River, Wisconsin when we were on our way to the Mississippi River. I never knew there was a Blue River, Wisconsin. Even sounds like the place to test “your hand in the flowing stream!”

Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is rambling on a bit, just like the rambling river waters…oh, she wants to know if you spotted all the teeny birds on the telephone wires in the photo. They are hard to see in this tiny size, but their antics are amusing and clear in the bigger photographs.