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.

~~~~~~

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

 

Bruised Heart

Fading Leaf in Fountain - Olbrich Garden

Bruised Heart ©2013 Bo Mackison

When words become unclear
I shall focus with photographs.
When images become inadequate,
I shall be content with silence.
~ Ansel Adams

It was a cloudy morning in Madison, a quiet day. I spent part of my early morning reading through my old journals, a practice I frequently do. I find that while skimming through old journal entries, I come away with new insights.

Today I re-read several pages of notes from an article written by Roger Walsh, author of The Practices of Essential Spirituality. He has studied and researched the great spiritual traditions of the world for the last several decades, and in this article he had written about wisdom.

The five places to find wisdom:

  • in nature
  • when practicing silence or solitude
  • from the wise, from elders
  • by listening to one’s own wisdom
  • and by looking for wisdom in the nature of life and death, in mortality.

This evening the sun has re-appeared,  fluffy clouds dot the sky, and there’s a cool breeze in the air. It’s a perfect summer evening for a walk around the pond, listening to the sounds of the approaching evening, and finding solace in the beauty of the natural world.

————–

Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is contemplating, and walking, the paths of wisdom-seeking.

 

 

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.

————————

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.

Tiny Fountain

Fountain at Chicago Botanic Gardens

Tiny Fountain © 2010 Bo Mackison

This fountain is in a very long straight line, but the individual water spouts are very short – only a few inches high.

Did you see the fountain in the photograph when you first glanced? As you looked for the fountain, did that encourage you to look deeper into the photograph?

That is what photography – the actual act of taking a photograph – does for me. It makes me take a longer look, a deeper look. It allows me take the time to make meaning from what I see.

Photographed at Chicago Botanic Garden.