rito del roble rojo
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Many men lie down on the earth and look at the stars.
At night when the stars are clear, men lie down on the prairie and look at the sky, and the rolling of the universe amazes them, and they shudder with loneliness. Oflaggerty’s Child: The Homecoming, verse 4 - excerpted from White and Red 11 Eclogues from "Indian and White", Sixteen Eclogues by Winston Weathers, published in 1970. 
I began to fully observe the red oaks in June 2021. The bronze sculpture "Fox Digging Mice" by Ken Bunn, that was positioned behind the eastern red oak had caught my attention before and though the trees were of interest they did not resonate with me until I took another look at "Osage Tradition", by Reverend J. O. Dorsey and gained an understanding of their significance in the Osage cosmology story.
This was underscored by the realization the Museum was to be entirely razed, that the area of natural beauty surrounding the building would most likely disappear. and there was very little I could do. Although I have received assurances from Jack Neely, Chief of Capital Investments for the City of Tulsa who and spearheads the team that is leading the renovation, "that all trees that can be saved will be", I felt the need to pay homage to these spectacular manifestations of nature that encircle and grace the old building. I sought inspiration in the poetry of Octavio Paz, Winston Weathers, in the writings of John Joseph Matthews, in the lore of the Osage Tribe and in the natural beauty of the setting. With my companion, abstract painter Cynthia Brown, we devised a plan to create two "prayer skirts" that would loosely hang on the two red oaks, serving as both objects of adornment and protection; using a color scheme closely approximating those of the Osage Tribe flag, blue, yellow and red, hues which also correspond to those one sees on an autumn afternoon.
The complete text of the Osage Tradition is available at the Internet Archive..
Summer night, winter night.
They lie thinking that the wind blows across them and rustles the tall grass around them, but soon there will be only the wind and the still night. Many men lie and look at the stars and think that we are like rocks that crumble and fade away. Even the trees shall and the hills shall fall and the earth be split asunder. But none shall pass a quickly as Oflaggerty’s child the counter of stars and the herder of cattle. None shall linger so briefly—as the rider of horses and the hunter of eagles. Oflaggerty’s Child: The Homecoming, verse 4 - excerpted from White and Red 11 Eclogues from "Indian and White", Sixteen Eclogues by Winston Weathers, published in 1970.
elegía por los robles rojos
elegy for the red oaks
early autumn smell the slow burn of drying leaves taste light drenched hues of seasons turning feel ever so patient as grass browns hear the tree remains giving thanks speaking to the small ones amongst us we are beset by daily stories that bring wonder and loss into our lives so why why care for the ones who must depart the waves of low light yellow and red feed the low winds that bring the shadows slowly creeping near can amanece (dawn) break the curse that casts the shadows upon the land
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el roble rojo
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