Desecrated Places

“There no unsacred places, only sacred places, and desecrated places.” - Wendell Berry.

I originally wrote and published my poem “Sign” as a solo performance piece but on one occasion I reconstructed it as a call and response in the tradition of the Greek Choral Odes. I read the call at an open mic with other participants reading the response. It could also be performed with one group reading the call and another reading the response in the mode of antiphonal choirs. Other pollutants could be substituted for the word mercury to match specific situations.

Sign
The strophe (call) is in italics.
The antistrophe (response) is in plain text.

This message brought to you
By the Tennessee Valley Authority
By Business, Industry, and Government
By progress, prosperity, and jobs

Mercury
It's an element.
It’s a metal.
It’s a liquid.
It’s toxic.

Mercury
It’s a capsule launched into space
To splash down in the Pacific Ocean.

Alan Shepherd                
Rode the first Mercury capsule into space
Splashed down in the pages of history books.

The river’s waters contain
Mercury
Not the space capsule but the element.

It’s a metal.
It’s a liquid.
It's toxic.

The river’s fish contain
Mercury
Not the space capsule, but the element.

It’s a metal.
It’s a liquid.
It’s toxic.

Pregnant Women
Should not eat these fish.

Nursing Mothers
Should not eat these fish.

Children
Should not eat these fish.

Adult Males
May eat these fish.

Women past childbearing age
May eat these fish

Elderly people
Are ENCOURAGED to eat these fish.

Homeless people
Are REQUIRED to eat these fish.

That is all.
Have a nice day.

My poems are stories of place. My heart intersects with my place when I see birds in flight, wildflowers in bloom, or other aspects of the natural world. It is broken when I see places desecrated. Grafitti on rock surfaces can be jarring but one set of words on rock inspired my poem “Glen Falls Trail.”

The desire to leave a human mark on places has a long history, and the move to preserve ancient pictographs and petroglyphs indicates that we value at least some such activity. This art must have been culturally important to its creators and may have been an act of sanctification.

Today, we live in a world of constructed vertical surfaces, and multistory buildings are often the canvas for artistic expression. Some building owners pay street artists to adorn their properties. Some graffiti may be feared as symbolic of gang activity.

I recently encountered some contemporary rock art near my home. A bright red mushroom adorned one rock, a rainbow another. A third surface was painted blue to accentuate a crescent moon and a bright star. Venus with the crescent moon is a powerful symbol in many cultures and the image appears on the state flag of South Carolina.

Does rock art desecrate or sanctify a place? For now, I have decided to live with that question rather than seek an answer.

Upcoming Presentations

I will read some of my poems at the Friday noon session of the Meacham Writers Workshop on Friday, March 22. My reading will be part of a four-author panel held in the Raccoon Mountain Room of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga student center. Other authors will read on Thursday and Friday evenings at other locations.

I have been asked to give my Robert Sparks Walker presentation at the Trails and Trilliums festival in April. The festival takes place April 19-21 at Beersheba Springs Conference Center and is sponsored by the Friends of South Cumberland State Park. 

Soon it will be time to search the woods for bloodroot and other blooming spring wildflowers. I photographed these at Audubon Acres last spring.