Solo Reflection

Solos

Solo at last, only breath says I’m here
under great red pine tree.
With eyes you can’t see them, but they are near;
they too are alone across the mud flat expanse,
sitting, waiting, first and only chance.

I wait on the sun for the west side am I,
till’ noon, then one, then two o’clock all go by.
The sun dapples through but the breeze is still stronger,
rather nap than that view, forest floor seems much fonder.

An eagle soars high and an osprey dives low,
two song sparrows twitter and chirp as they go.
But time doesn’t care about comings of fools,
for great oceans, strong tides follow it’s rules.

To break woody silence the sharp trill of a gull,
as mother earth’s wish there is never a lull;
even when quiet seems, the smallest are moving,
busy working; continue their day in and out doing.

Sun has finally showed now at three I’ve been waiting,
tide has gone in and out my day slowly is fading,
shedding darkening greeting on eastern side now,
here sky is still blue yet long tree shadows bow.

Day threatens to leave, how I wish it would stay,
now that warm yellow beams have all come my way!
With leavings, I’ve learned, there’s always things new
dark curtain closes, new scene, backstage crew.

So now lunar goddess prepares for her reign;
bright, happy sunshine from the sky seems to drain.
Alone but not lonely I watch it leave, knowing
on the last wisps of darkness comes angel’s bright reprieve.

-Katlyn Keane

Yes, we have all come back healthy and rejuvenated from solos! Our solos were excursions out into the woods of Chewonki neck with all of the students (except two, sorry) getting waterfront property. Our solo sites were approximately 400 square yards each and we had three days and two nights to sit in our site, with our tarp and ground cloth for a house, and think about our MCS experience thus far. Many students, if not all, enjoyed their solo experience as a break from the ever moving life of Chewonki and a time when they could sit and do the things that don’t seem very productive at 10:00 at night after check in such as: writing in journals, art, bird watching, building fairy houses, and observing the tides. I have been alive for 17 years and I had not been alone for more than a day until my solo experience. It was quite a change for me. It isn’t very often that a person in the world of today gets to be completely alone; I’m not entirely sure I like being along for that long but I would definitely like to go on a solo again to have a similarly peaceful and maybe different experience. I asked seven students at MCS how they would describe their solo experiences in one word. The responses I got were:

Peaceful
Solitary and Enlightening
Revitalizing
Turkeys!
Quiet
Unbelievingly amazing
Deer!

From all these responses hopefully you can get an idea of the quiet, wildlife filled, thoughtful experience that all 38 of us got to participate in. We had beautiful weather which is uncommon in MCS history and that was wonderful. I will always remember my first solo experience and maybe will take others like it in my life. The only thing that was lacking on the solo was space. Taking a walk is a great way to get thoughts moving and I couldn’t do that without running into someone else’s solo site. However, my solo experience was simply a taste of a more intense solo experience that someday hopefully I will be compelled to do.

-Katlyn Keane, Bethel, ME