A painting, a poem and a song get together at Reversing Falls Sanctuary celebration

A painting by Annie Poole of Brooksville.

By John Epstein

Reversing Falls Sanctuary, based in the old North Brooksville Methodist church building, held the fourth in a series of events celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Before a packed house on Nov. 30, local painter and illustrator Annie Poole unveiled her latest Advent calendar illustration: a vibrant gouache painting depicting the world around her in Brooksville. She also delivered a moving account of finding love, family and community just a few doors down from RFS.

Poole’s painting elicited creative responses from two other artists.  Emily Stribling, a Brooklin-based poet, read her poem “A Collection of Souls.” inspired by the painting. Then Poole’s daughter, Estelle, a singer and guitarist who performs under the moniker Is She?(www.isshemusic.com), ended the event with her original song, “Here at Home.”

See Annie Poole’s painting above and Emily Stribling’s poem below.

“A Collection of Souls”

By Emily Stribling

How do we manage to hold

such a collection of souls

within a single frame?

How do we hold sun and moon together

while giving each its own space

to dazzle?

How do we hold the children skating

on the icy pond and the children

riding bikes on the warm road

while allowing each

the wonder of the season?

How do we hold the owl

eyeing the frog or

the fox crouching closer

to the chicken coop?

What about the eagle ogling

the salamander crossing the road,

or the hungry fawn and its Mama

trudging through frozen snow

while crows devour berries

in fiery autumn barrens?

What about big dogs who chase

little cats?

What about the full church on the hill

while the little church below

stands vacant?

What about the presence

of the steadfast bridge arching

over unpredictable ocean currents?

Perhaps it is all about

being willing to give each soul

the freedom to welcome

and embrace

the other

each of us on a holy journey

to be in community.

The Rising Tide highlights artistic endeavors from our community, and showcases them here in our “Create” section. If you have something you’d like to submit—a poem, a picture of a painting, a photograph, a music recording—send it to info@risingtide.media. We’d love to publish it and give you an audience for your creativity.