{"id":132,"date":"2012-06-03T00:09:25","date_gmt":"2012-06-03T00:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hullyjoe.com\/andrew-hull\/?page_id=132"},"modified":"2020-05-07T01:14:32","modified_gmt":"2020-05-07T01:14:32","slug":"elemental","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/hullyjoe.com\/andrew-hull\/poetry\/elemental\/","title":{"rendered":"Elemental"},"content":{"rendered":"

E A R T H<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Do you know me?\u2019 said the country,
\nAs it changed into the ranges,
\nLulled itself into the gullies,
\nMade a passage for the seas.
\n\u2018You do know me\u2019 smiled the country,
\nAs it crusted in the sunshine,
\nFlourished fresh within the forests,
\nFreely offered up the trees.<\/p>\n

\u2018I am older than all memory,
\nYet exist beside you daily,
\nFrom my dust you take your body,
\nAnd to me you will return.
\nYet you think you do not know me,
\nAs your back is turned toward me,
\nThere is nothing you can teach me
\nBut so much that you can learn.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018When you know me\u2019, spoke the country,
\n\u2018You will understand your being,
\nLike the dust between your fingers,
\nAnd the rock on which you stand.
\nFor the song that you remember,
\nIs the echo of my whisper,
\nAnd the emptiness inside you,
\nIs the absence of the land.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018You must touch again your country,
\nNot with steel or with invention,
\nNot with greed and not with purpose,
\nYou must reach out with your soul.
\nLearn to feel the world around you,
\nLet the music overcome you,
\nLose yourself to find a meaning,
\nBreak yourself to make you whole.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018There is wisdom in the ages,
\nAnd the landscape is eternal,
\nAnd that knowledge lives beside you,
\nYet is not at your command.
\nTake the time to know your country
\nFor its spirit lives within you,
\nAnd it resonates around you,
\nAs it joins you to the land.\u2019<\/p>\n

 
\nW A T E R<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2018Watch me closely\u2019, said the water,
\nAs it ran down from the mountains,
\nFalling soft upon the faces,
\nLying bare upon the shore.
\n\u2018Are you watching?\u2019 said the water,
\nAs it rambled through the valleys,
\nWandered free across the country,
\nSlept along the ocean floor.<\/p>\n

\u2018I have moved among your people,
\nTravelled silent in your cities,
\nShared the story of your families,
\nI have listened while you pray.
\nBut you do not see each other,
\nThough each day you walk together,
\nAnd you share a common journey,
\nStill you do not know the way.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018You must watch me\u2019, said the water,
\n\u2018For the truth is all around you,
\nAnd you share it like a river,
\nWhile you own it like a tear.
\nYou are lost to one another,
\nAs you search with eyes unopen,
\nAnd although the words are spoken,
\nStill you will refuse to hear.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Hold on tightly to your mothers,
\nFollow firmly by your fathers,
\nListen closely to their lessons,
\nLet them offer you the truth.
\nThey have walked the road before you,
\nAnd have fought the battle for you,
\nAnd they hold a light to guide you,
\nThrough the trials of your youth.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018There are lessons learnt by living,
\nIn the knowledge of the elders,
\nIn the learning of your forebears,
\nThere is strength to stand apart.
\nSo hold tightly to your mother,
\nFollow firmly by your father,
\nHeed the lessons of the old ones,
\nAnd retain them in your heart.\u2019<\/p>\n

 
\nA I R<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2018You must listen\u2019, the air whispered,
\nAs it sifted over rivers,
\nAnd wound around the mountains,
\nDrifting gently over fields.
\n\u2018Listen close\u2019 it murmured softly,
\nAs it blew over the oceans,
\nHurried fast across the deserts,
\nAnd the sands of time revealed.<\/p>\n

\u2018I have travelled with your people,
\nAs you walk the silent journey,
\nI accompany the lonely,
\nAnd am party to the crowd.
\nAnd you breathe each others whispers,
\nFor you share a common purpose,
\nBut you do not hear each other,
\nOr the fears you shout aloud.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Listen closely\u2019 still it harkened,
\nFor the answers are before you,
\nAnd you own them like a breath,
\nYet you share them like a breeze.
\nStill you walk the land in silence,
\nEver searching for an echo,
\nOr a signal bell to follow,
\nAs you drift upon the seas.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Put your arms around the children,
\nPress your heart against their heartbeat,
\nHold them closely to your bosom,
\nIn a generous embrace.
\nFor they walk the path beside you,
\nAnd they learn to travel by you,
\nAnd the love you give them daily,
\nWorldly goods will not replace.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Come tomorrow they will lead you,
\nAnd will bear the load you carry,
\nAnd your words may be forgotten,
\nBut your love will linger on.
\nSo protect and hold the children,
\nAnd your journey will continue,
\nFor the path you walked before them,
\nIs the road they ride upon.\u2019<\/p>\n

 
\nF I R E<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2018Can you feel me?\u2019 spoke the fire,
\nCradled warm inside the open-hearth,
\nAnd rushing through the bushland,
\nWhere lightning gave it birth.
\n\u2018Free your senses\u2019 whispered fire,
\nAs it crackled through the heavens,
\nSprinkled softly as the sunshine,
\nBubbled deep within the earth.<\/p>\n

\u2018I have joined your celebrations,
\nAnd been worshiped in your temples,
\nBeen an enemy to conquer,
\nAnd an ally to control.
\nSeen you look into a mirror,
\nAnd not see your own reflection,
\nAs you search for missing pieces,
\nFor you do not know the whole.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Loose your senses\u2019 roared the fire,
\nTo yourself you are a stranger,
\nAnd you fear it like a wildfire,
\nThough you know it like the sun.
\nStill you yearn for affirmation,
\nAnd you long for understanding,
\nAs you race to end the journey,
\nThat you haven\u2019t yet begun.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018You must listen to the spirit,
\nThat is crying out inside you,
\nAnd is dying to release you,
\nFrom the ties that have you bound.
\nFor the road that is before you,
\nWill be yours alone to travel,
\nAnd it\u2019s only deep within you,
\nThat the answers will be found.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018There will come another morning,
\nWhen the light that shines upon you,
\nDoes not try to burn or blind you,
\nBut will warm and light the way.
\nSo reach out with all your senses,
\nFind the spirit deep within you,
\nFor the questions of tomorrow,
\nForm the answers of today.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

E A R T H \u2018Do you know me?\u2019 said the country, As it changed into the ranges, Lulled itself into the gullies, Made a passage for the seas. \u2018You do know me\u2019 smiled the country, As it crusted in the sunshine, Flourished fresh within the forests, Freely offered up the trees. \u2018I am older […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2297,"parent":12,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"sidebar-content","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-132","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hullyjoe.com\/andrew-hull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/132"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hullyjoe.com\/andrew-hull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hullyjoe.com\/andrew-hull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hullyjoe.com\/andrew-hull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hullyjoe.com\/andrew-hull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/hullyjoe.com\/andrew-hull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2019,"href":"https:\/\/hullyjoe.com\/andrew-hull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/132\/revisions\/2019"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hullyjoe.com\/andrew-hull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hullyjoe.com\/andrew-hull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hullyjoe.com\/andrew-hull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}