| In Loving Memory of Polaris May 6th 2004 to September 2nd 2005 Thanks Polaris for all you taught us!!! |
| ~ A TRIBUTE TO POLARIS ~ DO NOT STAND AT MY GRAVE AND WEEP I AM NOT THERE I DO NOT SLEEP I AM A THOUSAND WINDS THAT BLOW I AM THE DIAMONDS GILT IN SNOW I AM THE SUNLIGHT ON RIPENED GRAIN I AM THE GENTLE AUTUMN’S RAIN WHEN YOU AWAKEN IN THE MORNING’S HUSH I AM THE SWIFT UPLIFTING RUSH OF QUIET BIRDS IN CIRCLED FLIGHT I AM THE SOFT STARS THAT SHINE AT NIGHT DO NOT STAND AT MY GRAVE AND CRY: I AM NOT THERE I DID NOT DIE |
| To the Wolf that Passed By Lee Ridley As western humans we still have so much to learn about the way things are, and should be. But then there are simply so many mysteries in life that we have missed in our haste. We attach too much importance to our lives and not sufficient to ponder the true existence of what has been. What gives me the right to make such bold statements? Well nothing, but through the many losses I have suffered I am slowly being drawn into this way of thinking. I will not beguile you with the perception of wisdom, but purely what I feel and who I am. I received the news of Polaris’s passing after being away for a week and the news sank like a pebble in a pond, my heart got heavy. But the sinking pebble caused ripples as it passed from hand to water. The ripples will never occur again while the pebble became part of the greatness of the pond. So to was Polaris, she has changed so many lives in so many ways you could never even begin to envisage, and now become part of the greater tranquility of the pond, always there but not so accessible. When I sit and ponder the reasons for life I can find only one, one that is core and critical to every species. That is the function of change, with life comes the ability, and one might even say, the responsibility to bring about change. And what more could a wolf do than to inspire, to teach and in all cases to be just that, a wolf. All the way to Africa she reached and inspired a little person like me to write. How many more people did she inspire, not only to give outwardly, but inwardly? People who had the misconception that wolves were some sort of mythical deity to be feared have seen their beauty, the beauty of grey. People who have never been in the wild have been inspired by the defiance in her eyes. People who have grown weary and worn down by life’s toils have been moved to decision by her howl. And the wolf world, well, that will be forever changed. Young face with blazon black stripe of fur across her forehead like an ancient marking of passage, she will always move me to dream, to dream and to write. And while there is life that dreams and thinks of her she will always be just beyond your vision, in the colder outer realms of consciousness. Darting after fleet prey, free on the hoof, she will be chasing with steam bellowing from her muzzle in joy and satisfaction. She will never again need to eat or sleep in this greater place of our celebration. Free as the wind. Not a time for sorrow, but of celebration, celebrate the greatness of her change, celebrate in the knowledge that she brought about change and is now part of a greater whole. |