Skip to main content

I BELIEVE THE SEA OATS by Pranada Comtois


 The ocean and mountains are sacred places for me and allow me to rebalance mind and body...

During a time in my life in which I was learning to cope with an anxiety disorder and fending off cancer, I drove to the beach every Saturday morning. I would lay on the beach, under an umbrella, all day Saturday and Sunday listening to the healing sounds of the shore and bathing in pure, uninterrupted calm.

These reprieves from work and life pressures literally staved off an early death for me. "I Believe the Sea Oats" was written during a mystical moment one such afternoon on the beach, when I was lifted into an internal garden even more nurturing than the seaside.
I Believe the Sea Oats

Cicadas’ clicking crescendo
the perpetual ocean whoosh
engulf us in a dome
open space
a fine acoustical home

the moment freezes
breathes a whisper
I can’t say if this is transcendence
but the seagulls sense it
without chatter they soar on quiet winds

the gulls and I, fellow monks, move
silent in the temple of the present.

A warm breeze holds straight for me
skims atop the sea
probes the dunes whose sea oats
slow-heave and
tipping fingers point--

the space between heave and tip
fills with half a pirouette
a hundred oat-feathered reeds
choreographed
in stately ecstasy

they accuse in all directions--
the Artist is everywhere at once

I believe the sea oats
the grasses at their base
the circular leaves
of the low sand plant
boasting purple flowers.
(Click on the play button below to hear Pranada recite her poem)




Pranada Comtois is an advocate of the spiritual evolution of Bhakti’s wise-love in our lives, our heart, and our relationships. At sixteen she began her lifelong practice and study of Bhakti under the guidance of her guru A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. An activist in women’s spiritual empowerment, she successfully organized global steps against gender injustice and published a quarterly journal advocating women’s rights in the modern Bhakti tradition. She is a featured speaker in the film “Women of Bhakti” and the author of Wise-Love: Bhakti and the Search for the Soul of Consciousness (forthcoming). Read more on her blog here, or connect with her on Facebook here. 


~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~ 
Labels:

Comments

  1. Catherine L. SchweigNovember 4, 2012 at 4:34 AM

    Thank you for coming over yesterday and sharing your beautiful poems! I so much enjoyed recording your voice and setting it to a slide show. It certainly adds a whole new dimension of experiencing your poetry for those who visit the blog. For me, it is very significant, as this is a blog created to fuel women's voices, and being able to hear the poem and well as read it certainly emphasizes this in a very tangible way. I feel your presence very strongly in your voice, and your courage as well, as this poem emerged from a time in your life in which your heart had to exercise much bravery.Thank you again for sharing, and I look forward to more!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IMAGINE A WOMAN by Patricia Lynn Reilly

  This poem invites you to look upon yourself with loving kindness… Gazing at your own true reflection, you will discover that everything you have longed for “out there” is already within you! I invite you to love your creativity fiercely. Faithfully plant seeds, allowing under-the-ground dormant seasons, nurturing your creative garden with love and gratitude. In the fullness of time, the green growing things thrust forth from the ground. It's a faithful, trustworthy process. AND it takes time and patience.  Blessed is the fruit of your creative womb! I invite you to trust your vision of the world and express it. With wonder and delight, paint a picture, create a dance, write a book, and make up a song. To give expression to your creative impulses is as natural as your breathing. Create in your own language, imagery, and movement. Follow no script. Do not be limited by the customary way things have been expressed. Your creative intuition is original. Ga...
20 comments
Read more

IN THE STILLNESS OF THE NIGHT by Ginny Brannan

 Just take a moment to pause... When life becomes rote, and frustration grows from being immersed in the same routine—different day, sometimes we need to remind ourselves that peace is still there—within our grasp— if we just take a moment to pause and enjoy the stillness and beauty around us. In the Stillness of the Night  by Ginny Brannan Late winter’s eve and all is still the lawn lies bathed in silver light— gray shadows race across the yard and climb atop the windowsill to draw my gaze upon the sight. I stare out to the moonlit night, across the deck and wooded path fresh–painted by new fallen snow. The scene infuses with delight; this gift inside storm’s aftermath. Half–buried now, the old birdbath lies shadowed deep in indigo— it waits on promise of the spring when arctic chill has finally passed and snow gives way to new green grass. With gratitude, I hedge to go; tranquility allays my soul… I turn ...
2 comments
Read more

STILL I RISE by Maya Angelou

Six years ago, I had the privilege of listening to Maya Angelou speak live on the value of poetry at the University of Florida. I share these reflections with you again today, in honor of her birthday.  I was relieved to get one of the last seats available for this rare event, having arrived at five for Maya Angelou ’s free speech at eight. The historically long line began with people settled into beach chairs in winter coats busying themselves on tablets, or eating sandwiches for dinner. As helicopters hovered above and newscasters below, I felt the excitement of realizing that thousands of people were gathering together to hear an eighty four year old black woman recite her poetry! Maya Angelou speaking at University of Florida on Feb. 27, 2013  When the curtain rose -after an overflow of hundreds were sent away- we lucky ones on the inside greeted Maya with a standing ovation, as she smiled sweetly, beginning her talk using metaphors from nature. Maya asked...
4 comments
Read more