A Ritual for the Nature of Language

Abstract

A Ritual for the Nature of Language Linda Russo (bio) drink from moss with the moss of your tongue step with steps of snails shells cracking entangle your words in mycelial syllables ink with the muds of bones measure night with the shadows of bark nest with the twigs of your thumbscalendar and clock to the flow of phloem comb with the grass of grass lungshide your burrows in hidden burrows scribble in spells with bees paw rocks with your weathered rock paws circle your heart with the heart of a pond in both directions breathing [End Page 109] Linda Russo linda russo founded and directs EcoArts on the Palouse. Recent published books include Participant and To Think of Her Writing Awash in Light, as well as two coedited works: Counter-Desecration: A Glossary for Writing Within the Anthropocene and Geopoetics in Practice. She lives on the unceded lands of the Nez Perce Tribe and teaches ecospheric care through creative writing and literature at Washington State University. Copyright © 2021 University of North Carolina Wilmington