Finding beauty in hidden places

April 8, 2020 — Along Highway 101, just visible on the guardrail, someone transcribed the words of Gary Snyder’s “Mother Earth: Her Whales” —

“The whales turn and glisten, plunge and sound and rise again,

Hanging over subtly darkening deeps

Flowing like breathing planets in the sparkling whorls of living light.”

While people continue to be asked to stay indoors, or wear proper personal protective equipment such as face masks when they do leave home, poetry is still making its mark on the world.