Hi, for those of you who couldn't make the picnic - I'm posting the poem I wrote and shared at the picnic.
One Community Heartbeat
(Waccobb Potluck 2014)
Friends, there is just one heart beat
We forget when we think our
Heart beat is the only one
Listen to the pulse of your heart
Reverberate in this circle
Your heartbeat and theirs
One
The heartbeat of the community
Calls us to dance
So? Dance!
Dance your work
Waltz your walk
Tango your talk
Whether you salsa solo
Pirouette in pairs
Cha-cha with community
Always dance with abandon
Dance to wake the trails so
Wildflowers blossom after each step
Dance to wake the children lulled to
Sleep by electronic sedatives
Dance to wake the corporations so they
Remember the bottom line is the people
Dance to wake the wounded, so their
Mountains of sorrow and shame turns to dust
To become mulch that nurtures
The seeds of acceptance
Dance wildly
Wake the stars
Wake the dance within
Maybe, for a mad moment,
Dance your soul
Dance passionately
Until the trees bend over backwards
To form a bridge
Heart to heart
Dance on the bridge
Look into the Other
See your reflection
Hear your communal heartbeat
Where the first cell thrums
Remembers the beginning and
Remembers the end
You who rumba to my right
And lambada to my left
Are dancing me
And I am dancing you
And when you dance me
I can see myself better and
Move with more grace and ease
When I rest the dance continues
Even when we are not listening
Angry, confused or sorrowful
The community dance is here
Where we can return at our own pace
When we are all awake
Our communal heart can contain those
Only dreaming that they are dancing
This communal dance calls you back
To your heartbeat
Go out with your heart
Come back with the beat
Go out with your heart
Come back with the beat
To the beat of this circle
Shhh, quiet
You can hear it
Now
And when this circle separates
Remember
Go out with your heart
Come back with the beat
Go out with the beat
And come back to your heart
Sally Churgel c.10/2014