poetry corner
Muddled Grief by Melanie Choukas-Bradley
How do you grieve an untimely spring The precocious daffodil, the frog tuning up too soon
Of all the climate griefs This the most muddled
The heart swells to the magnolia Gambling on a spell of winter warmth
All the resilient lives reaching Into the breach of a changing world
And our hearts wondering Whether to break or bend
Melanie Choukas-Bradley is a poet and author of eight nature books. She is a mother and grandmother, who raised her children in the Ag Reserve.
Gratitude Soup by Atira Zeoli
I used to think anger was profound – then I found gratitude.
Gratitude is a thirst quenched, a hug that lasts longer than a song.
It is our tears when they dry on our cheeks, the way the tense skin
almost feels like a smile. It is the crocuses opening their palms
to spring despite last week’ s freeze. Gratitude is the great vat of unknowing
that comes from a soup pot of sorrow boiled for too long. You see,
gratitude can feed a crowd, feeds anyone that shows up for supper.
Even anger gets a bowl. I am so grateful for anger –
how else would I know I don’ t want to be angry anymore?
Atira Zeoli is a poet, artist, meditation teacher, and mother. She teaches at KPC Buddhist Temple and Riverworks Art Center.
Protect the Ag Reserve
Ongoing and new challenges to the environment, farmland, and open space in our area require persistent vigilance.
n Solar installations on farmland. Solar companies are pushing in the state legislature and Montgomery County to gain the right to put large ground-based solar facilities on good quality farmland. We support solar energy but not when it threatens to take arable land out of food production.
n Waste management. Our fight to shut down the Dickerson trash incinerator continues as the county ramps up its initiative to overhaul waste disposal and recycling systems over the next decade. The incinerator is the county’ s single largest source of pollution and greenhouse gases. County officials claim they can’ t shutter the incinerator for another six to seven years. We disagree. It should be shut down within three years or less, as county leaders previously committed to do.
n Data Centers. A proposal to build a data center and battery storage campus in Dickerson continues to move forward. Along with Montgomery Countryside Alliance, we are closely monitoring the county’ s regulatory process as it assesses the proposal. If approved, the project would be the largest real estate and industrial development in our area in decades.
You can read more about all these issues on our website.
Other SCA initiatives
4 Promoting regenerative agriculture and table crop farming 4 Monitoring the evolution of agritourism in the Ag Reserve 4 Preventing development near Sugarloaf Mountain 4 Tracking energy infrastructure projects that threaten farmland
Help us advocate on behalf of the Ag Reserve. Consider becoming an SCA member and supporter. For more information, visit sugarloafcitizens. org or email us at info @ sugarloafcitizens. org
SUGARLOAF CITIZENS ASSOCIATION P. O. BOX 218, DICKERSON, MD 20842