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Meet the Author

Dr. Teresa M. Tipton is a visionary educational designer and teaching artist, recognized internationally for her innovative and award-winning programs integrating the arts, visual culture, and communication into whole-child pedagogies. Storytelling and writing come naturally from a life-long love of reading and curiosity, nurtured by both parents. As an adult, she has worked with children of all ages as an artist-in-residence and program designer, sharing her love of a good story framed in the diverse ecological and cultural contexts in Seattle, Washington, making art projects and stories together. Today, she has lived in many countries across three continents and continues to mentor and teach art to learners of all ages. This story expresses her love of nature and the importance of caring deeply about our relationship to the Earth and one another through words, actions and deeds.

Raven's Song (The Poem)

Raven soared high above the earth

Below, as far as the eye could see, was a large emptiness

A tear formed in her eye and fell down

Where her water touched, the earth sighed

Raven cried out for a missingness

Where her voice touched, the wind answered

She circled around the missingness and landed on a rock

Rock held her up and her feet moaned

What rock held, became stone

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Stone took Raven’s saddening and wrapped herself around it

She wrapped herself around it and then breathed it out

The saddening took flight and flew above the ruined ground

It flew as far as the eye could see

It flew up beyond the sky and touched cloud

What it touched, touched back

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Cloud took Raven‘s saddening and rocked it gently

The saddening remembered comfort

What saddening remembered, it became

The wind took comfort and blew on its face

The saddening remembered caressing

What the caressing remembered was forgotteness

Sky took forgottenness and wrapped itself around it

Forgottenness remembered being loved

What forgottenness remembered, it became

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Being loved remembered itself

What being loved remembered, it became

Being loved caressed the wind and wind remembered loving

What wind touched, loving wrapped itself around

What loving touched, touched back

Loving remembered alivening and touched the broken ground

Wherever alivening touched, it touched back

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The alivening touched water and water felt renewed

Whatever alivening touched, it touched back

Alivening touched tree and its branches felt renewing

Tree touched Raven and she began to sing

Whatever Raven's song touched, for givingness touched back

Whatever for givingness touched, became beauty full

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Raven sang and sang

She sang inside her own alivening

She sang inside her beauty full

She sang inside her for givingness

She sang inside her lovingness

She sang inside her renewingness

She sang and sang and then fell asleep

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In her dreamingness, she flew high above the earth

She flew farther than the eye could see

She flew beyond the beyond

She flew beyond a thingness

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And when Raven came back, she was full of Light

Beyond a thingness took her Light and spread it

Far beyond the beyond and below the down under

Whatever her Light touched, became enlivening

Whatever enlivening touched, touched back 

Trees took her Aliveness and shared it

With all the Earth and each other

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Whatever Aliveness touched, became itself

Embodied on the Earth

© Teresa Marie Tipton, 2011 

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