by Nancy Lynée Woo, Long Beach Eco-Centric Poet & Organizer | YPL Fellow | Author
Saturday, October 29, 2023 | 3:41 pm, Willow Springs Park | Long Beach, California
Today I fell in love with the wildly flowering coyote bush on the road leading down the hill toward the farm—its fluffy parachute flowers like a big beige cotton candy bush. Touch it and seeds disperse into the bright blue air. Like the delicate orbs we’d find on the playground at recess. Close your eyes and blow the fuzzies away—make a wish.
Today I learned what it means to honor the land—to imagine coastal sage scrub everywhere. I imagine a world where the California gnatcatcher comes back from the brink of extinction. I want to sage the world, pull us back from the precipice. To reverse the tipping points. To learn from the Tongva ways of cultivating what sustains us.
Today I want to live like there are a million tomorrows full of artemisia and perennials putting down roots. I want to live underneath the shadow of the red-tailed hawk looking for field mice. I plant narrowleaf milkweed in my front yard—the most important plant for Monarch butterflies in California. I hope for a first year bloom. I hope for a beautiful way forward.
“Field Note from a Slow Apocalypse” was published in the 2023 Grief & Gratitude edition of Art from Ashes Magazine