Monhegan, Shamans, and Chants

                A couple of weeks ago, I was out on Monhegan Island. For the past thirty-odd years, I have been getting out there most summers, either for a day hike or as much as a week. This time, it was two nights in the Rose Room at Tribler Cottage (www.triblercottage.com)with my son Eben (age 30).

                We spent our time doing what you do on Monhegan—hiking the trails and cliffs, catching up on the new art, checking out this past winter’s blowdowns of trees in the dense woods. We ran into my friend, Monroe Maine artist Kenny Cole, who was in the middle of his five-week Monhegan Artist Residency (www.kennycole.com). Over beers while waiting for our crabcake burgers on Fish Beach, we talked about the challenges and joys of artist residencies.

After Kenny left, Eben and I were joined at the communal  picnic table by a shaman from Miami who works for the Miami Beach school district. Since I was born in Miami, we had a lot to talk about. The guy had a great attitude, was super friendly, and the burgers were perfect with just the right amount of tarter sauce.

                We also ran into artist Dyan Berk (www.dyanberk.com ) , who used to live on the island year-round. Her house out there, by the way, is for sale.

                Eben and I hiked to Burnt Head by way of Lobster Cove. Here is a poem I “got” on Burnt Head a few years ago and is in my collection, Heart Song & Other Legacies.

Chant

                          "I contain multitudes."

                         Walt Whitman

I am an architecture

of skins, the bones

of other creatures twisting

through me.

I am the snakes and the lizards and

the one-eyed crocodiles.

I am the lesser known species

of birds and the brush

that sustains them.

I am the saltwater fish

and the freshwater fish

and those that swim

in the brackish places in between.

I am the small mammals that gnaw

and nibble in the night.

I am the Bengal tiger resting, heavy

eyes drooping to sleep.

I am all hopping things -

red-backed spiders and rabbits

and toads that live under drains.

I am the blue whale and the harbor

seal, the starfish curling

over sea urchin prey.

I am the flight of the albatross over

open waters. I am

the gulls and the crows mourning

for this world.

I am those multitudes

that fly and crawl and run and limp.

I am all

these things.

                       

(“Chant” from Heart Song & Other Legacies, Illuminated Sea Press, copyright Linda Buckmaster, 2007)