Susan Suntree is a poet, of the embodied, lived kind. With a lifelong commitment to poetry, performance, teaching, and community work, her intention in her Life and Art is to awaken the Creative Spirit on behalf of what is Wild, Communal, and Generous. She has spoken of poets as those of us who bridge the divides, and build and heal our communities.
Besides her epic poem Sacred Sites: The Secret History of Southern California (available as of 2021 in audiobook format, narrated by the poet Peter Coyote and Kalani Queypo), she has presented a poetic adaptation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, published and synthesized various poetic works, including Eye of the Womb, Tulips and many more; edited a collection of writings titled Wisdom of the East, with a foreword by HH The Dalai Lama; and has been known for her active involvement in arts of all kinds, limited only by her imagination.
She will forever be loved by the community for setting up the Primitive Arts Institute, alongside various luminaries of her generation, including the poet Dale Pendell.
∞
“The proper response to poetry is poetry.”
– Norman O. Brown, philosopher
Epic Poetry–
We have often wondered of
the luminosity of the by-gone
ages, days, times-
that, that birthed epics.
We stood wondering why
there are no epics birthed in our Here and Now.
It is not that-
poetry is dead-
neither the Divine- this, despite
what the insane-sane shout, all the live-long day.
Rather, poets are a chosen kind-
little to do with
dimensions such as where- such as when.
Poets are birthed through
that subtle impulse, the impulse-
Magnanimous visions,
Healing touch.
The turning toward-
towards the Hidden.
–
The words leapt-
leaping, sunk deep into the-
depths of – Wild Heart.
It isn’t an exaggeration,
to say-
true Poesy bleeds the
ossified Imagination and sparks within us,
the Timeless Life.
Tears- so many tears,
at verses a-plenty-
“Reptile Paradise”, “the cockroaches survived,”-
this having a heavy indent
as we bid adieu to a local
roach, by name “Henry”-
who whispered goodbye the other night.
Nor is it mere
banality-
to Mythify
the Rational, the Obscure, the
Absolution of Intellect-
Modern Man’s self-conjured
prison-cell:
culling the magic breathing every second-
all around.
We feel, and believe it a
necessity – to introduce
the work, as a primer
for students,
in a culture bent on facts
and – what is and this that is-
can never be different.
Never have we experienced
the Inherent Magic
in the cut-and-dry tale-
told of Evolution- of the roots
of Modern Civilization.
Sacred Sites is not simply
fodder for Disembodied
Mind-
Susan engages the Whole Being
and thus Sheds Light
On the Scientific Divine.
It is not merely for the eye, nor-
the inner ear alone;
this poem is for-
She breathes Soul,
She breathes Spirit-
onto a myth
so pervasive-
we sometimes forget-
it is only one of many tales-
and this dominance of
the modern myth
leaves our imaginations-
bled dry.
The Secret History,
however-
is no mere toy:
A Doctor’s Initiation;
A Poet’s Inspiration;
An Explorer’s guide- to pure Imagination.
For, to pay homage to
Realities, vastly different-
Yet, vastly true-
both United by a single thread, through her poetic eye-
the Sublime Divine-
or is that the other way around?
The book will meet
the Devout practitioner of the
Mystery right where we are-
bring forth new life
to the
fossils of static, and so
cancerous, theory-
which blocks the
Magic that surrounds
our true
Eyes.
Do not mistaken
inspiration for minced words
that leave one
manic,
or joyous without the equally important
truth of
bitter, bitter time.
A Doctor’s medicine- and no less-
is her poetry.
That which acknowledges the
awe-inspiring capacities of
Ruthless Change, Impermanence,
Nature and her Perils, Dangers;
and so it is-
at the same time:
A caress,
a balm-
for Coyotes-
us, always questioning meaningless rituals and rules-
that deplete beings of the Life Force of Earth-
Coyotes, howling at Moon-
that She May Always Rise!
