By Rose Loving
PROMPT — Who am I today?
Embark
On the path inward.
Remember that little stream
with the emerald mossy banks?
And the sound of meandering
curious, but with intent.
There was so much nourishment
growing in that valley.
The wild leeks we ate every day
with eggs at dawn.
The coltsfoot we dried for tea
In case our lungs fell ill.
The sweet singing of spring
as winter nips but loses its pinch.
You will see the same richness
In that self-reflecting pool.
Take the path inward
The one nourished
By your own wild dreams
ready to be harvested.
As the leeks,
The window for their tenderness
Is brief.
Rose Loving moved to Vermont in 1973 and immediately knew that it was her home. She graduated from Johnson State College where she found her passion for ceramics. Soon after, she worked as a public school teacher in rural Vermont. When clay was not available to her, she took up a self-invented, experimental watercolor process, painting ethereal mono-prints. Eventually she brought this process into Vermont schools, teaching it to students as an artist-in-residence. For 22 years, Rose has put hands to ground to manage a gardening business with private clients. In 2003, Rose became a certified Kripalu yoga teacher. Since then, she has taught yoga classes around the Upper Valley of Vermont until three years ago when she directed her attention to caring for her mom. Rose has always journaled. Recently her focus has been captured by that curious process of creative writing and poetry. She continues to write from her vantage point on the hilltop in Tunbridge.