Nature is man's teacher. She unfolds her treasures to his search, unseals his eye, illumes his mind, and purifies his heart; an influence breathes from all the sights and sounds of her existence.
Alfred Bernhard Nobel

In the rain shadows
Of the Cuyamaca Mountains,
At the confluence of Escondido Ravine and
Agua Dulce Creek, a river formed that flowed west
Through the Prado, into Lake of the Woods,
And finally down through Noble Canyon
West towards the Pacific Ocean

Raising our hands in respect we
Entered into the historical lands of
The Kumeyaay and the Kwaaymii
And were acknowledged by
The Ravens in a chorus of staccato
“Pruk pruk pruks” and gravely “kraa kraas”

Checking provisions
And cinching our packs,
We began our ascent. Traversing
A dense path above a creek we were
Startled by a family of Quail rustling in
The fallen leaves under the chaparral.
Foraging for daily nourishment
The chorus of their voices -
“Bee-oo-ah - bee-oo-ah - bee-oo-ah” -
Echoed softly on chill morning air

Further in we spied an ancient lake bed
And, on knolls thick with majestic Ponderosas,
Large flat rocks were etched with bedrock morteros
And metates - a reminder of the porridge meals made
Of acorns and seeds the kindred’s ate daily. Scattered in
The soil were shards of pottery once used for living,
And arrowheads once used for hunting. We were
Standing in the midst of them, and in our spirits
We could see them working, and we could
Hear them singing

“There’s something holy here,” Michele whispered.
“Look there,” I pointed. Above a red shouldered hawk
Dipped down and instructed us to think pure thoughts, and
That we were known and accepted

Long had we wanted to realize
More than our own knowingness’s,
More than our own superstitions,
To delve beyond what we felt, to
Touch the spirit of a culture
Reabsorbed now into the
Flow of times river,
An enigmatic people
Who understood naming
As an act of holy power,
Who understood
Living life as a melody;
An allegorical cycle
Of bird songs sung
In cantabile celebration

Around the periphery prickly pear cactus,
And Holly-leafed cherry bushes, were interspersed
With gnarled stands of Black Oaks riddled with mistletoe.
In the distance, nearer the lake, scrub-jay, sparrow,
Chickadee and mud-hen greeted the warming
Sunlight in a chorus of unrehearsed singing-
We were standing in the midst of them,
And in our spirits we could see

richard lloyd cederberg
12/09