Tookers Island (Lauren Ross)

Outdoor exploring gives Juniper (Lauren Ross) a way to practice and create. She says, "Three of the poems were written on Tookers Island at the end of a week of solo kayaking on Lake Superior.

Zen mindfulness is the ground of my solo adventures. Mindfulness and the present moment keep me safe. Much is birthed from there, including poetry."

#1

You were perfect on the day

that I died rather than leave you.

The seas were calm.

The barest ripple

marked hidden rocks.

The sun blazed,

half-hidden by clouds.

The air was still with possibility.

#2

There are stones of gem quality

And views to dazzle post cards.

But nothing of any value

Is carried

Beyond these shores.

#3

I came to know a perfect moment

when it is certain that the day will bring

No more wind

Than I can handle.

I came to remember how and when

knowing arises in the belly

I came to forget a thousand neglected necessities

So as not to be distracted from what

is unimportant

and essential.

I came to watch uncountable stars

fill the night sky;

and to remember why nights without moon

shine.

I came to watch the sunrise and sunsets

of eternity.

It is only now, in leaving,

that I've remembered why I came.

#4

If I should die upon the water;

Set off from shore

and not return,

Do not grieve for me.

I knew a hundred stony beaches

Uncounted wave-washed shores,

And the unfiltered sun on a January afternoon.

3-23-2003