Delight in Chaos-Swirl Madly

I'm celebrating World Oceans Day, which is June 8th. Our Alaskan rivers and lakes feed into the ocean. Fish return from the ocean to our rivers and streams. Rivers, streams, and lakes are not disconnected from the sea, but a part of a lively cyclic relationship. In the Tlingit language the Pacific Ocean is called "Black Raven" and in Tlingit mythology it was Raven who stole water from Petrel. Petrel kept the water in a spring far out on an island where no one was allowed access to it. Raven visited Petrel and then tricked him and flew off with the water in his mouth. Of course greedy Raven could not hold that much water in his mouth for long so he had to spit some of it out.

In honor of the ocean, here's a poem of mine that appeared in the literary journal Bolts of Silk called "Creating Waterways."

After a long drink of cold water-spring
Raven opens his beak and drops water,
water touches mountainsides, swirls
and splashes then torrents and rushes.
The river is forming, brown and bitter water
as he creates the Stikine—Shtax’héen.
Water from his beak forms the Nass, the Skeena,
the Chilkat, the Alsek, and the Taku.
He delights in order—do not flood the world.
He delights in chaos—swirl madly.




                                                      HAPPY WORLD OCEANS DAY!