POETRY
for Toshiko
March 2017
yes, om, yes
she brought the wheel
to the chapel of beginnings
or the chapel enfolded
the potter as she recreated
the earth from soil
once organic now newly alive
in her hands
as all lines blur
between the dust, the fireflies
and we who shape the clay
and are in turn shaped
in the kiln of our desires
yes, om, yes.
7.10.88
Toshiko Takaezu (1922–2011) was an American ceramic artist and painter.
Reprinted from Whales Sing and Other Exuberances by Scott McVay, published by Wild River Books.
Scott McVay
Scott McVay was founding executive director of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. He was the sixteenth president of the Chautauqua Institution. He is fascinated by the songs of nature, propelled by the six-octave humpback whale’s song, and the songs of humanity, driven by poetry of the planet throughout history and today.