Cataract Canyon and Roxanne Swentzell - Earthly Treasures

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Last year’s Westwater Canyon River Writing & Sculpting Journey for Women with guest Pueblo artist Roxanne Swentzell and her daughter, esteemed artist Rose B. Simpson, inspired poetry and sculpture. This year, some of the same women are returning. Others, new to the adventure, will experience it for the first time. This time, we'll spend six days in ancient Cataract Canyon in Canyonlands National Park.

What did we do each day? We journaled. We talked about story spirals. We sculpted with river clay. We sang in grottos and swam in whirlpools. We watched Big Horn sheep scatter across red rock. We watched Rose stomp a Flamenco dance in the sand to the impossibly horrible clapping rhythm of Page and Roxanne. We ate way too much delicious food cooked by amazing women guides.

This year, we get to do it all again. Amazing! Go to http://www.pagelambert.com/ to find out more. The following poem is formed of bits and pieces from all of us....

We hang onto little moments of our trip.
Touchstones that bring it back.
Water, sun, rock, sun, rock, water, and sand.
That afternoon at Black Rocks
when some of us played with our clay
and others of us swam nearby…
Warm emotional embraces felt
from every woman on the journey …
The river beckons…
It soothes my soul and makes me whole…
Rocks and twigs, already placed in my office…
Little clay pieces
I pick them up…
Eagle, shadow, red rock wall, soft chirps…
We Laugh at elephant jokes…
The ram, the eagle, the otter…
The canyon walls, the river, the clay, the shared words…
Black rocks fold into themselves…
Morning shadows play with the curves and hollows
of the long sinewy bones of rock…
Breath spirals down, gentlyfloating with the rhythm of the river.

© Westwater River Women, 2008

Watch Roxanne sculpting in the video "Living Portraits: New Mexico Artists & Writers"

Read Rose B. Simpson's poems and see her paintings.

Visit the "Mothers and Daughters: Stories in Clay" Heard Museum Exhibit with Rose Simpson and Roxanne Swentzell

Sign Up or Get Details on the 2009 River Writing & Sculpting Journey for Women
An advisor for the Rocky Mountain Land Library and member of the International League of Conservation Writers, Page Lambert has been writing about the western landscape and leading nature retreats in the West for twenty years. Founding member of Women Writing the West, member of Wyoming Writers and Colorado Authors’ League, Lambert’s writing can be found inside monumental sculptures at the Denver Art Museum, online at Huffington Post, and inside the pages of dozens of anthologies. Page designs and teaches graduate writing courses for the University of Denver’s University College. Recent published works include “Not for Sale” (Langscape Magazine and “The Rural West,” included in Fulcrum’s new book, The Light Shines from the West. Forthcoming are 3 poems in DoveTails: Writing for Peace. Page writes All Things Literary/All Things Natural from her mountain home west of Denver.

Comments

Anonymous said…
These trips sound great. Hope I can do one. How long have you been leading them?

Chandi from Blog Babes
March 15, 2009 at 7:14 PM
Anonymous said…
Hi Chandi. Thanks for visiting the blog! I've been leading my River Writing Journeys for Women for about 11 years. In 2006, Oprah's O magazine listed them as one of the Top Six Great All Girl Getaways of the Year! Hope you can join us!
March 15, 2009 at 8:00 PM
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