There is a circular growth that takes place in our world, in creation, in thought and wonder. We build and develop on what came before, not in a directly linear way. There is a goodness in that.

Almost a year ago to this day I posted on my blog a writing that had taken my whole life to write. I live on the west coast of Canada in the coastal temperate rainforest. It is a strong theme in my life and my view point. I have grown up in the rain.

My Grandpa was born here, my Mom was born here, and I was born here. We are a bit of a rarity, for this area is primarily made up of the swell of first generation peoples who have gradually felt and responded to the call of the setting sun. They have headed west. They have chased till they could run no further and must watch as it descends into the sea. They also love to complain about the rain.

Water is the most important thing to our life after oxygen, and it is gifted to us here repeatedly from the sky. It cleans our streets and dresses our forests and lawns in moss. It is the primary architect of our lives, and I think it deserves respect. It was with these thoughts having built up in my self for over 31 years that I took to the page that day, and let it flow into my hands and onto the page in torrents and trickles until it was done. Cycles and growth.

Today is February 29th, Leap Day. If my Grandma were still alive it would be her birthday. Her story is mixed in with mine. She who bought me countless books as I grew up. She who always had cardboard salvaged from the garbage at work for us to draw, write, create on. Her life undergirds all that I will become as I spin around and go and grow. Cycles and growth.

A year ago I shared a poem on my blog. I wrote from a computer at the end of the world for myself on a blog that very few people saw. The blog was seen by one person and I started writing and sharing images with a magazine. I continued to write and share, a bit further afield, cautiously and timidly, like a trickling brook. I met more people and saw myself a stream, with images and writing splashing out all over the place, finding their flow. Till today. When the cycle cycles again and I see the growth, and I find my voice, and I realize, I am now a river, heading towards the sea.

Thank you for allowing me to be part of your journey and flow as well.

Gift of Rain, Cup of Life

Oh gift of rain
Cup of life

From the sky to our lips
Trees drink deep
Searching routes roots shoot to savour

Damp drips in the mossy mushroom festooned
draping of forest old and full

Oh gift of rain
cup of life
fall from above
bestow life

On roofs and roads
Leaves and legs
Washing, wending, descending
by gravity's constant call

To return to return again
Evapostranspiration calls you up
Precipitation so very precipitous
can bring you down..
Run off now to the sea
Rejoin your vast family
Wherein therein dwell we and she
and he and me.

Conveniently covalently bonded
attract repel chargedly
Universal solvent
Essential
Vital
Necessary
I need you.

Where did you come from?
The sea? Look further
The sky? further still...
Water born of stars' birth
born as outward wind
collides and compresses
heats and emerges transformed.

Such is the reality of water
to nurture and destroy
to bear life and bring death
anew and again and again and again

The means of life
and the greatest active destroyer of it

The nurturing trickle
and the ravenous torrent.

The delicate symmetry of snowflakes
alighting so softly on skin
and the hailstones that hurtle
down to dent cars and skulls.

All life needs water
Where there is life there is water
Where there was life there was water.

People fear and respect fire
which is extinguished by water
The fire quenched while the water evaporates
to condense and fall again.

Neptune, Poseidon, Naiads and Nymphs
Baptism, Purification, Oasis, Paradise.
Water honored and revered
by those that came before.
Those that understood.

Be careful, you who disparage.
Take heed, those who disdain
the rain is life and death.

It is tinkling and crashing on tin
musically falling in still ponds to ripple
Thunderingly carving through rock of ages

Cocky we who hold the hose and claim dominance

Growth and destruction
Respect the rain
Welcome the waves

Be thankful and do not fear
For as much as it is us
more so are we not it?

We follow in the example of water
We nurture and destroy
we foster and create

What we do to the water
We do to ourselves.

Jordan Oram isn't only WE's Photo Editor, he's also the
Outdoor Adventures Editor and combines these passions in
photographically adventurous ways on his world rambling journey. You can
follow his zany hijinks at  www.coastalforestdweller.blogspot.com

Photo courtesy and copyright Jordan Oram

Other articles by Jordan Oram