USABHA
Towering clouds
sweep the ridge
The trees grow thick
Ah, excellent
for Usabha
who has a taste for solitude
and forests
~ From “Songs of the Songs and Daughters of Buddha: Enlightenment Poems from the Theragatha and Therigatha,” translated by Andrew Schelling and Anne Waldman, Shambhala
“The time will soon be here when my grandchild will long for the cry of a loon, the flash of a salmon, the whisper of spruce needles, or the screech of an eagle. But he will not make friends with any of these creatures and when his heart aches with longing, he will curse me.
“Have I done all to keep the air fresh?
Have I cared enough about the water?
Have I left the eagle to soar in freedom?
Have I done everything I could to earn my grandchild’s fondness?”
~ Chief Dan George, Tsleil-Waututh (1899 – 1981)
“I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up.”
~ Henry David Thoreau, from “Walden.”
“We want to be poets of our lives, first of all in the smallest, most everyday matters.”
~ Nietzche, “The Gay Science.”
I gaze on myself
In the stream’s emerald flow
Or sit on a boulder by a cliff.
My mind, a lonely cloud,
Leans on nothing,
Needs nothing from the world
And its endless events.
~ Han Shan
“My book should smell of pines and resound with the hum of insects. The swallow over my window should interweave that thread or straw he carries in his bill into my web also.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, “
What’s Up in the June 2022 Issue of West VirginiaVille
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EDITORS/NOTE/June2022: The Persistence of Meaning: I used to think once you got the words right they could change the world. I don’t believe that nearly as much as I used to. Yet, still, we persist in the face of oligarchs, wannabe autocrats and media lapdogs who want to tan men’s testicles.
‘HERO OF THE OPEN HEART’: A WV native’s global humanitarian life showcased in documentary: When “The Wake Up Call” make its West Virginia debut June 23, 2022 in the state’s capital city, the documentary will train a spotlight on a remarkable global humanitarian life which ranged far beyond the Appalachian hills where Dave Evans was born.
UKRAINE: How the Russian army helped to nationalize my country: A Ukrainian exchange student who studied in Charleston WV, reflects upon the devastation he finds all around him and his family in Mariupol after the Russian invasion of his homeland
VIDEO: A first-hand story about an elephant’s birth in West Virginia: They dreamed of an elephant for the parade capping off All Together Arts Week in southern West Virginia. But where do you get an elephant? A group of artists and elephant enablers decided they must do what they had to do: manifest one.
ONE/SONG: “It Ain’t More Damn Guns” by Chris Haddox: Chris Haddox’s Muses (they seem pretty pissed off and maybe you know the feeling) quick-produced the song “It Ain’t More Damn Guns,” reacting to the latest American gun catastrophe in Uvalde, Texas.
POETICS: “Appalachian Marie Kondo” by Crystal Good: I live in the disorder of a missing mother. / I sit in the middle of my mess. / I hear my mother’s voice: / You don’t need this. / This doesn’t fit. / When was the last time you used this? …
PICTURE/SHOW: A Taste for Solitude & Forests: Have I cared enough about the water? Have I left the eagle to soar in freedom? Have I done everything I could to earn my grandchild’s fondness?’
EVENT: Native Russian classical guitarist strums up a benefit for Ukraine: A Russian classical guitarist and newly christened American citizen living in West Virginia hosts a June 1 musical benefit for Ukraine, as he works passionately to counter an invasion he abhors.
NOTE TO READERS: Since its founding in May 2020, WestVirginiaVille.com (a project of AmpMediaProject.com), has been a free online magazine of lively, opinionated & alternative writing and imagery about West Virginia. Help us stay in the business of offering ad-free, worthy content. CLICK HERE OR THE ‘Donate’ BUTTON TO SUPPORT THE CAUSE.
MORE PICTURE/SHOWS
Losing yourself in Lost River: December 10, 2021: Wandering the byways and backroads of the Lost River environs in eastern West Virginia, while trying to write a sorta memoir. An imagistic journey.
PICTURE/SHOW: The Hills & Dales of Al Peery’s West Virginia: November 4, 2021: When it comes to Autumn in the West Virginia outback, nothing could be finer than Al Peery framing the scene from his wanderings in the West Virginia wilderness.
PICTURE/SHOW: 36 Ways of Looking at Thomas WV: September 10, 2021: Thomas, West Virginia, is a bump in the road several thousand feet up in the mountain air. With a storied past, small-town European feel, and humming creative scene it’s a special place in the hills. A photographic encounter.
PICTURE/SHOW: Kyle Vass on taking his best shot: June 7, 2021: A little over a year into his work doing audio journalism, Kyle Vass realized every story, regardless of what medium it’s being told through, needs pictures. Here’s what happened next.
