StAnza Presents... Larry Butler

from The Earth Says

(after Hokasai Says)

Larry Butler

The birds say

keep singing sing from your heart

fly from branch to branch

stay curious stay light start fresh

each year with a new nest then be patient

& sit on your eggs till they hatch

The sun says

keep smiling

smile at your reflection on still water

from dawn to dusk go outside

out to play with light & shadow

in the day long dazzle leaping through thin air

Larry Butler was born in the USA and has lived in Glasgow since 1981. He teaches tai-chi in healthcare settings and leads therapeutic writing groups at the Maggie Cancer Care Centre, and in the Kibble Palace of the Glasgow Botanic Gardens. His publications include Butterfly Bones (Two Ravens) and Han Shan Everywhere (Survivors' Press). A poet and editor for PlaySpace Publications, he trains/mentors writers and storytellers to lead creative words for wellbeing groups with Lapidus Scotland, and recently edited Living Our Dying – the more we talk about death the more lively we become – with 21 Scottish writers contributing, launched in May 2021.

StAnza brings poetry to audiences and enables encounters with poetry through events and projects in Scotland and beyond, especially their annual spring festival in St Andrews.

www.stanzapoetry.org Facebook: stanzapoetry Instagram: @stanzapoetry