Martha Andrews Donovan: One Writer's Excavation

Clay Goddess, Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico

Field Notes

 ….every pilgrimage to the desert is a pilgrimage to the self.
There is no place to hide and so we are found.
                  – Terry Tempest Williams, Red: Passion and Patience in the Desert

Rock
Hold me in your hand. Imagine I am language – hold me in your mouth.

Clay
Make me into a body. Place me in the water – return me to the source.

Wood
Build a space for yourself on this earth – build a house for your heart.

Flower
Bloom against the current – you, too, yes – here, now.

Sky
Leap from the earth. Swing in a hammock of stars.

Red
Follow the clay, the scarlet penstemon, the flash of a hummingbird’s wings.

Rain
This is all you need: color, stillness, the burst of breath.