The Rainbow Kites

Photo by Mike Wheeler

Evening at the beach,
six of us sing with delight, 
pouring ourselves into the lapping waves,
Aphrodite’s lacy foam blessing us.
Two turn back home, remembering, 
because today, just this day,
this windy June evening full of light,
is the perfect day for kites.
Two bright rainbow kites, one short, one long,
unfurl into the sky as if born there.
Higher and higher, released and released
by loving hands on the strings,
the brilliant tails whip and flutter,
exulting in freedom, 
at home in Oya’s winds.
We loll in the warm waters,
washed inland and out 
in the undertow’s slow rhythm,
leaning on one elbow, head tilted to the sky,
as the evening sun and the two kites
vie for our attention.
I remember my son, 
whose kite this once was,
and there he is, 
visiting these beloved women,
laughing, untethered by string.
For that moment, we connect, 
the kite and the spirit,
the wind and the women lolling in the surf.
The rainbow kite snaps its tail 
and shouts with joy
for this windy day,
as families pass by, hand in hand,
the sun setting slowly in the surf.

Annelinde Metzner
Folly Beach
June 9, 2014

The Beach Babes

Rainbow kite

Love in the Time of Rhododendron

How does the Goddess appear to us
     this July, lush and rich,
     a woman in Her prime?
The rhododendron blooms are everywhere,
     unstoppable,
     laughing in their largesse,
     delicate and powerful,
     tiny and huge.
The Goddess is everywhere,
     but in the blooms of the Rhododendron,
     She is vastly Herself,
     each bloom exquisite,
     more and more of them.
More than you think possible!
High and low in the forest canopy,
     down close enough to touch-
She is here!
She is with you.

Annelinde Metzner
July 2, 2020

Tree Mother of Africa

Planting trees with the Green Belt Movement

“I’m a child of the soil,” says Wangari.

“I don’t think you need a diploma to plant a tree.”

The women learn.  They plant trees.

Teaching one another, nurturing the seedlings,

brown arms reach deep into the brown earth,

anchoring the eroding hillsides with tiny saplings.

Thirty million planted!

On the faces of rural women in Kenya, there is hope.

“I have a new dress, and I can eat!”,  says one.                                                 “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Each seedling is watered from hand-held tin cans. 

The new forest grows,  the soil stabilizes.

Animals begin to return.

“Deep in the roots,” says Wangari, “we are planting the seeds of peace.”

After thirty years of planting, nurturing and growing,

Wangari gets the Nobel Prize.

“I’m a child of the soil.”

And isn’t that you and me?         

Aren’t our own brown hands there, planting, waiting, mothering,

knowing all our futures are in the thin new stems, their bending and giving?

“You must empower yourself.  You must break the cycle.

You are planting hope in your life, and for your descendants.”

Wangari steps out on the Oslo balcony with her prize.

The streets erupt in ululation!

This is how we heal the Earth.

This is how we heal the Earth.

This is how we heal the Earth.

“Let’s plant trees!”

Annelinde Metzner

April 2008

Wangari Maathai

Dr. Wangari Maathai (1940-2011) was a brilliant environmentalist and activist who founded the Green Belt Movement. She was responsible for planting 52,000 trees in Kenya.  With her life's work, Dr. Maathai drew focus to the needs of the African environment as well as its women. 

       Dr. Maathai is featured for the month of July on the We'Moon Wall Calendar.

       Listen to my poem, "Tree Mother of Africa," read by Becky Stone with Sahara Peace Choir providing the ululation!

Wangari envisions the future