spring black earth ritual

first real spring day
I feel like hanging
prayer flags


This is the ninth spring that I've been the owner/steward of ZenRiver Gardens. It's become an annual  rite of spring to buy 25 kg bags of black earth to encourage the stunted apple trees. Initially I thought the trees were crabapples, their fruit was so small. But nine years of fertilizing and pruning, as well as wrapping them in chicken wire vests to protect them from beaver assaults, has encouraged crops of full sized apples.

The rocky grounds of ZRG also receive attention. Over the nine years rock extrusions of varying sizes have gradually been softened by the bags of soil to make mowing and even walking easier. The transformation has been gentle and gradual, and the tops of several old rocky adversaries still boast lawnmower scars.


lawn's rough edges
disappearing
spring black earth ritual


It was over a quarter century ago, on April 12th, that I retreated to the edge of the Canadian Shield:


26 years ago
I retreated here:
no regrets


A gorgeous female rock dragon perches over the river at the bottom of the shaman shack's sloped yard:


rock dragon
drinks once a year
from the spring freshet 





photo of ZenRiver Gardens dragon by Warren Fraser  (April 13/15)


Chase clambered onto a narrow rock beside the dragon for a drink. So far as I can determine, he is 18 years old, or around 120 'human years'.


Chase on a ledge
drinking with the dragon:
his last spring?


On our visit a few days ago large ice floes were riding the spring flood. Today:


no ice chunks
in the freshet
just ripples and foam


Mesmerized by the swirling foam and ripples, and perhaps my Rickard's Red beer, I spied a dark animal in the middle of the stream:


old eyes can't tell
small beaver, large muskrat?
riding the freshet


 
Chris Faiers/cricket


                     ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


On 2015-04-12, at 7:38 PM, Ed Baker wrote:

really nice piece, Chris.

Friend, Jeremy Seligson, a poet who lives
in Seoul now for like 40 years
has been working of a run … a book…
of dragon poems … he sees dragons e v e r y w h e r e…
and takes their picture
when he was here last summer… he saw 4 in my house..
took their picture

I just sent him link to your today’s post.

hope all is well, Ed


                                         .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .


thanks, Ed!
yeah, dragon power! - kundalini! you'd get a hard-on over my dragon at ZRG!  She loves old zen poetry dudes (well, that's my fantasy)

Thanks for sending the piece to your bud Jeremy.

I'm pretty sure I have an even more powerful dragon living under the sacred rock face at ZRG - her mate?   They both tolerate me, & I suspect they enjoy my annual refurbishing of their scales  ;  )  Hope I'm getting their colour schemes right.

all well, the ZRG dragons are energizing both Chase & me, along with - finally - real spring weather - 18 C today with full sun ...



Chris ... & Chase Wrffffffffffffffffffffffffff! (man, if I'd slipped, bingo bango for this non-surfing doggie!)


Here's a pic of the west (feminine) side of the sacred rock face. The male dragon resides on the eastern side (where else) of this large rock outcropping.




sacred rock face photo by Warren Fraser


The sacred rock face's blue Buddha was recently immortalized in a pic in an Umbrella (Quinte Arts Council) article about me as their poetry editor - in that pic, just the Buddha's head is visible above the snow. In the bottom left cleft one of Jim Christy's creations now stands watch.


              ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeremy Seligson has left a new comment on your post "spring black earth ritual":

Hello Chris,

Ed baker led me here - to my delight. The dragon portion of your poem plus the fountain photo would do marvelously in my book under the heading, Dragons of the Fountain. It flows perfectly in and allows for special relief from the pattern of dragon stories before and after. Would it be alright with you if I included it in my book, which is nearly finished, including your name and citation of Cricket? If so perhaps you could secure it with Cricket for me, too, if necessary. I admire the lifestyle you have depicted and am grateful to Ed for leading me here.

Stay well in the fresh air and water.

Jeremy Seligson



Posted by Jeremy Seligson to Riffs & Ripples from ZenRiver Gardens at 12 April 2015 at 20:25