The Grapevine Art & Soul Salon

PRESENTATIONS: DIANNE SEAMAN

Dianne Seaman lives in a place where she is constantly nurtured by nature, as can be seen in these photographs, and she has been writing poems for decades, two of which appear here in celebration of our focus in this issue on praise poems. Her intuitive intelligence has led her to study and practice and lecture on astrology and past life regression therapy. An honors student with a background in biology and psychology, she has lectured at Columbia University and has presented programs at many conferences and meetings of societies interested in her fields of study, particularly those devoted to the work of C. G. Jung.

Ancient Rhythms

I walk across the fields,
my church this wintry Sunday morning.
Cobs missed in the fall harvest
lie on the brown earth
the Altar of Demeter where I now worship.
I gather field corn for the horses
and wonder what mystery under my feet
is preparing for spring’s emergence
as yet unseen, but faintly sensed in the faith
of an ever renewing cycle
in which life forms and dissolves … and forms again
which is as it should be.
We tamper unwisely with the ancient wisdom.

Edible Sacredness

If you’ve ever gazed deeply
at a small dried tomato seed
you’d wonder…
where the potential of its sacramental
moist red flesh lay hidden

If you’ve ever stood sticky handed under a peach tree
the juice of its offspring firing your tastebuds
you’d feel …
the awe of dry brown bark transforming
its tips into round, moist sweetness.

If you’ve ever dug a potato
its root mysteriously swelling
into culinary versatility
you’d know …
the miracle of every bite of food.

If you’ve ever stopped to remember
the mystery behind the Earth’s nurture
you would have said Grace.