The Song of the Earth
I beg you to remember
The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us, thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing. — John Muir
I am the taste in the waters…I am the light in the moon and the sun. I am the syllable Aum in all the Vedas; I am the sound in ether and manhood in men. I am the pure fragrance in the earth and brightness in fire. I am the life in all existences and the austerity in ascetics. — Bhagavadgīta 7.8–7.9
I am the light I see in others, those which fly, and those which dive and those which walk the earth.
I am the taste in water, the glint of sunlight on the dew, and the life force in the dirt.
I am old.
And I am new.
And I am all that is true.
To see the eternal in the mundane, to peer into other planes of reality, of duality, of plurality, is to see the One.
The sun shines not on us, but in us.
We all throb with the same energy, which shifts and shimmers and dances through all matter, and drifts like laughter on the breeze.
This knowledge brings me to my knees in nature’s prayer, in solitude and in despair for all that we have wrought, for all that we have lost in those moments of forgetting.
I beg you to listen to the song of the earth — and remember.
I believe that to truly understand a poem, it needs to be heard. To hear the rhythm, the cadence, the emphasis, please listen to my recording of “The Song of the Earth.”
Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, cat-mom, photographer, and a lover of nature and travel. She has been studying and teaching the ancient yogic texts for many years and holds an MA in Yoga Studies as well as a MS in Neuropsychology.
I hope you enjoyed this musing on reality. I have been quite touched by the teachings of the Upaniṣads, the Bhagavadgīta, and a myriad of other ancient texts. Sometimes, I think that they really had way more answers then about the workings of the universe than we do now.
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Poem and photos ©Erika Burkhalter.
