Music, Breath, and Presence: National Parks in Word and Song
This spring, I had the wonderful opportunity to sing the poetic lyrics created by Luke Diamond in his choral work, Breathing in the Awe. This composition consists of nine songs honoring specific US national parks, preceded by a prelude to all of our national parks. It is a fantastic piece that was professionally recorded, and I will be sure to keep you updated when the recording becomes available for everyone to hear!
The first nine parks honored by Luke in this series are Saguaro, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Acadia, Dry Tortugas, New River Gorge, Mount Rainier, Badlands, and Grand Teton. He visited each park in person to gain inspiration and capture the unique flavor of every landscape. One of his ultimate goals is to have these songs performed live right in the parks that inspired them.
Naturally, my personal favorites are the pieces written about our local Arizona treasure, Saguaro National Park, and the grand Grand Canyon.
Celebrating Saguaro National Park
Here is an excerpt from Luke Diamond’s piece, Saguaro:
You pass me by, too rough, too dry,
No shade to cast, no stream nearby.
You judge this place, a shallow space.
Unfit for wonder or embrace.
But color wakes where few will tread,
A hidden world of green and red.
Where flowers bloom with secrets rare,
A treasure veiled in thorn and care.
The palo verde blossoms bold,
Its branches burst with petals gold,
The ocotillo torches blaze,
like dancing fires in desert haze
The chollas dancing with delight,
They twirl and spin with playful might.
Throughout the rest of the song, he also brings in coiled, hidden diamondback rattlesnakes, luminescent scorpions, singing coyotes, prickly pears, javelinas, and the rich diversity of desert life. Standing tall above all of this desert scenery, of course, is the majestic saguaro!
Reverence at the Grand Canyon
The Arizona collection continues with a moving homage to the Grand Canyon. Luke speaks to the haunting calls of the canyon walls and the feeling of braving the heights through unrivaled sights:
Heights of splendor miles apart
Trails descend into your heart
Words fall short beneath your skies
Still my soul in reverence cries.
My favorite part of this entire compilation is the ending of this specific song:
How many years and decades, centuries, millenia have you blessed the earth?
A temple carved by earthen law,
Whose sanctum bears no fault or flaw
Joins all creation breathing in the awe!
Poetry in the Parks
Luke isn’t the only artist drawn to honoring our public lands. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón launched a signature project titled “You Are Here: Poetry in Parks,” which brought historic American poems to seven selected national parks. She carefully matched nature poems to each park, placing them directly on picnic tables to encourage visitors to slow down and observe their surroundings:
- Cape Cod National Seashore (MA): “Can you imagine” by Mary Oliver
- Mount Rainier National Park (WA): “Uppermost” by A.R. Ammons
- Redwood National and State Parks (CA): “Never Alone” by Francisco X. Alarcón
- Saguaro National Park (AZ): “The Sky Is Low, the Clouds Are Mean” by Emily Dickinson
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park (TN/NC): “To a Town Seen in a Dream” by Jean Toomer
- Everglades National Park (FL): “Song of the Turtle” by Joy Harjo
- Cuyahoga Valley National Park (OH): “The Theatrical Organism” by Muriel Rukeyser
In addition, she co-curated fifty original nature poems by living American poets into an anthology titled You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World. As Ada Limón so eloquently explained:
“I want to champion the ways reading and writing poetry can situate us in the natural world. Never has it been more urgent to feel a sense of reciprocity with our environment, and poetry’s alchemical mix of attention, silence, and rhythm gives us a reciprocal way of experiencing nature—of communing with the natural world through breath and presence.”
It is truly wonderful to see nature continually inspiring poetry and music. As we approach the 250th anniversary of the United States, our national parks deserve to be celebrated in both word and song!
Want to help young readers connect with the natural beauty of the desert landscape through engaging stories? Explore my science-based workbooks.
