The Beginning: A Poem

 The Beginning

a poem

Do you ever wonder how the world began?

The Beginning

Scientists probe into the journey
toward the beginning of the world;
ask such questions.

Who came first: the fish or the frog?
Is the Neanderthal our cousin or our brother?
Who initially reached for soil: roots or legs?

The earth left clues written in code
formed from another language, one
partially erased from a time
long forgotten, long passed; 

                                                a time
before the moon threw back the tides
and stars gazed at the barren sands.

We are made of cells; cells made of
organelles; organelles made of molecules;
molecules of atoms;

                               our endless world
so vast and sturdy, yet so infinitely
tiny and delicate. We are substance
and air, liquid and solid, mass and energy
combined. 

                    For all we have discovered
and defined, we are left baffled—
how intricate and extravagant,
how complex and perplexing,
how wondrous this all is!

Whether root or fin or leg or membrane,
cousin or brother,
sea or land or air or magma,

we are all part of one story, one world,
one amazing timeline, we sparkles
in God’s eye, we miracles of life,

we unexplainable wonders that keep
the experts guessing, questioning,
seeking explanations

                            for the beginning
of a world that stretches, perhaps,
to eternity.

 

 

by Julie S. Paschold
aka Tansy Julie the Soaring Eagle

4.10.25

 

Sacred Interruptions

--to the Rise Collective

 

-1-

Sacred spaces lit by the jewel
of a dragonfly wing,
supplied by Mother Nature herself,
interrupted only by the babbling
of the stones under current of water.

Sacred spaces of our creation,
whirring of fan blowing spirits of the past,
these winged blades of air
bearing their weightless support
yearning to yield pain to peace,
scream to smile, anxiety and anger
to aimless meanderings.

Can anywhere become sacred upon
our blessing and amiable ambiance,
upon the releasing of expectations
and stressful resentments and anger
that create separation?

-2-

Sacred moments when weary
becomes rest, when serenity inter-
rupts our strained stress and
allows us breath, when we read
and touch the divine, souls near
intertwine.

 

-3-

If to be sacred is to be dedicated,
to be protected, to be devoted
to a purpose, if we are helping another
to become secure, if we are reaching out
to aid in a being’s wellness,
are we not doing something sacred?

 

-4-

If to be sacred is to be secured
against violation, as by sense of right;
if to be sacred is to be properly immune
from violence and inviolable…
should not all beings be treated as sacred?
Should not all neighbors be souls to aid?
Who are we to bring animosity to another?

 

-5-

If we look at every person,
every animal, every plant,
every thing on this earth,
every stone, particle of soil,
hypha of fungi, molecule of air
as having the potential to change
and therefore living in spirit
and soulful, then sparking
in a godly way, how can we not
see ourselves in a web of endless
spirituality and having the potential
of simmering in sacredness?

 

-6-

Twice I have floated above the earth
and lost time. I was in the center
of a labyrinth, seated cross-legged
on stepping stones placed in the soil.
One of these times, my twin was seated
next to me. We floated together,
as close as we once were in the womb.
I felt the universe and the emptiness
was full of enough love for all.
For everything and everyone.

 

-7-

How, then, do we make these moments,
these places sacred in our lives?

How do we interrupt
the chaos
with the divine?

 ***

by Julie S. Paschold
aka Tansy Julie the Soaring Eagle

2.8.25

How to Order You Have Always Been Here

Introducing....

You Have Always Been Here

Poetry by Julie S. Paschold

AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK!!

SEE BELOW TO ORDER!!!!

Julie Paschold’s poetry collection, You Have Always Been Here, is a diaphanous touch of a bird feather across your cheek. A whisp of a weaved wing, like an electrical current, a flutter of energy that, like devotion, brings both satisfaction and sadness. She writes of love and the struggle to understand it when mixed with long-held and deep-set beliefs. Julie’s book is a rewarding prayer of and for connection: “because I have been here before,/this reaching for each other,” that once read, “. . .you are never the same/again.”   --Bonnie Johnson-Bartee, author of Cord Blood (2022 Sandhills Press), 2023 Nebraska Book Awards (Poetry Honor award)

Julie S. Paschold’s You Have Always Been Here is at once an intimate queer prayer—to a beloved, to a reader, to a god knit of desire and muscle—and a grief psalm. These poems invite us home to wheelbarrow and highway, to find release in the circles of a body running on a track, a pair of eagles flying, a spring returning with rain that taps “the melody of longing.” In this collection, queer yearning for another—“this reaching for each other”—is a form of faith, knowing that “no matter what does happen / we will be okay with each other / even after it does.” These poems carry us, cradle us through even the after, “free to leave,” reminding us of how to love ourselves and others wide as willow and wind. Let these poems hold you. Let these poems bring you home to your warm body.   -- Kelly Weber (they/she), author of We Are Changed to Deer at the Broken Place and You Bury the Birds in My Pelvis

 In You Have Always Been Here, Julie S. Paschold takes the reader on a journey full of yearning and unrequited desire that is touchingly and honestly portrayed. The poems in this unconventional love story are a heartfelt reflection on the helical nature of connection, love and loss.      --Amy Haddad, author of An Otherwise Healthy Woman

 

 Order Here:

Amazon

LULU 

Bass Clef Books

**Of course, the best way to order a paperback (and get a signed copy) is through the author at jpaschold@gmail.com or come to a reading ($15 + postage)**

See separate blog for reading schedule

How to Order Horizons

 Horizons: Poetry by Julie S. Paschold

Winner of the 2024 Nebraska Book Award

(Design Honor Category)

AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK AND AUDIOBOOK!!

SEE BELOW TO ORDER!!!!

Embark on a captivating journey through the vibrant world of living soil, where new horizons await under the very ground we tread and the tapestry of human experience unfolds.

This is an invitation to delve deep into the bonds of family, to explore identity and the spectacular essence of beauty, and to discover the marvels of Mother Nature's cyclical dance. Horizons pays homage to the richness of soil, a precious nonrenewable resource, blending the art of poetry with the wonders of science and everyday life.

So come join us on this expedition, those of you from all walks of life, starting from the bedrock of soil and venturing forth until we reach the breaking of the earth, to bask in the sun.

Order Here:

Barnes & Noble (paperback & audiobook)

Amazon (paperback, ebook, audiobook)

Target (paperback)

**Of course, the best way to order a paperback (and get a signed copy) is through the author at jpaschold@gmail.com or come to a reading ($18 + postage)**

See separate blog for reading schedule

Other Places to Purchase the paperback Horizons and support local owners:

Francie & Finch Bookstore, Downtown: 130 S. 13th Street, Lincoln, NE 68508

Norfolk Arts Center, 305 N. 5th Street, Norfolk, NE 68701

Lauritzen Gardens--Omaha Botanical Center, 100 Bancroft St, Omaha, NE 68108-1752

Your Forte, 415 Chestnut St, Atlantic, IA 50022

***AUDIOBOOK INFORMATION ****
If you need or prefer this version...HERE ARE ALL THE WAYS TO ORDER!

This is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Spotify, Libby, and pretty much everywhere audiobooks are sold.  Here are some links to help you out:

Google Play

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Libro

Storytel