From Elke to Mom and all the birds released, and yet to be released, spring 2003
You shall know the night - its space, its light, and its music.
You shall see earth sink in darkness and the universe appear.
No roof shall shut you from the presence of the moon.
You shall see mountains rise in transparent shadow before dawn.
You shall see- and feel! -first light, and hear a ripple in the stillness.
You shall enter the living shelter of the forest.
You shall walk only where the wind has walked before.
You shall know immensity,
and see continuing the primevil forces of the world.
You shall know not one small segment but the whole of life,
strange, miraculous, living, dying, changing.
You shall face immortal challenges; you shall dare,
delighting, to pit your skill, courage, and wisdom
against colossal facts.
You shall live lifted up in light;
You shall move among clouds.
You shall see storms arise, and, drenched and deafened,
shall exult in them.
You shall top a rise and behold creation.
And you shall need the tongues of angels
to tell what you have seen.
A poem by Nancy Newhall,
written for Ansel Adam’s (her friend) late 1950s photo book
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