Today's poem comes from Chapter 5 of John Muir: America's First Environmentalist, written by Kathryn Lasky and illustrated by Stan Fellows.
Muir in California
he boarded a ship
for San Francisco
didn't like the city
but did notice
flowers
on windowsills
pointed in the direction
of the mountains
he set off
swept up in the thrill
of the wilderness
drawn as if by
magnetic force
found music in
everything
water, wind
vibrations of pine needles
crescendos of a thunderstorm
entranced by
snow and ice
secrets of nature
wild places
he cherished beauty
Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2021. All rights reserved.
I hope you'll come back tomorrow and see what new poem I've found. Until then, you may want to read previous poems in this series.
April 1 - Flotsam
April 2 - A Warm Wind
April 3 - Zentangle Poem
April 4 - Soap Bubbles
April 5 - Following Butterflies
April 6 - Mount St. Helens
April 7 - Beautiful Buildings
Though we were within a few miles of John Muir Elementary School and the Muir House I never caught on until I was an adult - and had Scottish friends visiting - that Mr. Muir was a visitor to our shores. Having lived in both SF and Glasgow I can imagine that the difference between the closeness of city and countryside between those two cities would have urged him to prefer Scotland's! I love that he found music in everything - that's unexpected, but perfectly right. His statue in Muir Woods is perfect, as that place is a cathedral, and the wind in the redwoods plays like the deep, sacred notes of an organ.
ReplyDeleteI have not seen his statue, but would love to visit it. For all the times I've been to northern CA, I've yet to see the redwoods. That is next on my list.
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