“Songs that are stark in their simplicity, yet emotionally rich in a way that can catch your breath in your throat or leave your eyes suddenly damp.” — Paste Jeffrey Martin is a musician with a number of albums under his belt. His latest, Thank God We Left the Garden, has been playing on repeat in my house since November of last year. That is not an exaggeration. Martin’s music has been turning my soul over with each listen, airing out the space and providing sunlight on unswept corners. Melodies and turns of phrase that alter the course of my …
Author: Swanson
Susan Murphy on Zen Koans for Facing the Climate Crisis, the vast meaning of Country, and Cooling Fires
“A powerful and important plunge into the reality of the mind and climate.” — Joan Halifax, author of Being with Dying and Standing at the Edge Susan Murphy is an Australian Zen teacher whose passionate feeling of kinship with the natural world began during her early childhood years living near the Great Barrier Reef and the Gondwanaland rainforest. A successful filmmaker, radio producer, and writer, she received dharma transmission from Ross Bolleter and John Tarrant in 2001. She leads regular retreats around Australia and teaches an Australia-wide sangha that extends internationally online. She is the author of numerous books, and …
Drew Jackson on Touch the Earth, Poetry as a Lifesaver, and the Importance of Lucille Clifton
“In Touch the Earth, Drew Jackson’s poetry offers a word-weary world a new language of engagement, disruption, and insight. As with all great poetry, the words are spare, but the literary images loom large, creating indelible impressions on the reader. Like echoes that reverberate long after the first sound, the poems stay with you, they dance with your spirit. After reading the poem ‘Shake the Dust,’ I am still considering a much broader definition of power, one no longer confined to the monarchs, governments, and oppressors but with a conscience as sticky as cling wrap that refuses to allow its …