“Walking”

This painting and poem is based on a morning in the Kalahari Desert, when the sun was extremely bright and the temperatures were quickly rising.  We were headed to Deception Valley and I just felt an unbelievable attachment to the land and all those who had walked this ground for as long as we have been on the planet.

Walking

Attached to our ancestors by our feet

Each step reconnecting

To the moment we walked out of the woods

Tentative and fearful searching for other walkers

The movement of legs spreading out

Feet contacting with the ground today, as always

Feeling energy in our strides

Flowing down through toes

Sinking deep into our thoughts

Memory roaming back through the genetic pages

Recorded but never read

Of a time before the security of comfort’s fire

We step out into the light repeating primal need

To walk and rejoice in just being

Connecting to the journey of our unique path

That began as simple walkers

Haiku

Summer’s heat lifts dust

Above pale trees ochre weeds

Life’s path unfinished