INTERCONNECTED ANCESTRY

BY TRACY SCHLAPP, BRIDGEWORKS OREGON

What happens when we erase the line between the ancients and ourselves — when we draw connections to the entire living world? What is gained by recognizing the deep roots that connect us to our teachers, the plants and trees? These four writers contemplate the web between ancient spirits; our connection to stars and to the food we eat; our relationship to one another; and our responsibility to future generations. There is simple and profound wisdom in holding the natural world close. Jeff Witt marks the cycles in ritual, recognizing rebirth as spring announces that we have survived the winter’s dark. In “Fatigued Spirit,” Chris Lewis writes from internal flow, as he lets the words he casts tumble out of his pen: “The Spirit goes into the fields; it goes into the deserts, the forests; into our alleys in the cities. It waits for us in the quiet of the early morning, announced by the crow and slow marching clouds.” I read his piece contemplating the fatigue, the energy that runs through every atom of the universe. Exhausting thought and yet, electric!

Our writers access this world through yard time, and quiet contemplation from a cell. Tyler Nees is housed in Eastern Oregon which affords him a much needed view of the sky. (Generally, prisoners can only see the night sky if they have access to a window.)  Chris Lewis, housed at Oregon State Penitentiary, feels it is his privilege to tend the rose garden that neighbors the Intermediate Care Housing. Jeff Witt, also housed at Oregon State Penitentiary draws our attention to the very cycle that brings generation upon generation to life. And, Carolyn Stickley at Coffee Creek Medium relies on the memories of her travels to return to her beloved Sequoias. | TDS