Hello Again, Bornean Rainbow Toad! July 16, 2011

This bejeweled toad, feared extinct since 1924, appears to us once more!

According to Discovery News, the endangered spindly-legged Sambas Stream Toad, a.k.a. Bornean Rainbow Toad (Ansonia latidisca) was last seen 87 years ago in 1924.

“Prior to this recent sighting, only illustrations of the mysterious, long-legged toad existed, after collection by European explorers in the 1920s.  Because of this, scientists believed that chances of finding the species alive were nearly impossible and it was listed as one of the “World’s Top 10 Most Wanted Lost Frogs.”

The toad was found in the remote Gunung Penrissen mountains of Western Sarawak, which form a natural boundary between Malaysia’s Sarawak State and Indonesia’s Kalimantan Barat Province on the island of Borneo. The value of such wild corridors should not be underestimated. If not for the place, this toad (and who knows how many other species?) would likely never have been seen again. And amphibians are critically important to healthy ecosystems.

Dr. Indraneil Das of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, touched to find this toad once more, reminds us, “Thrilling discoveries like this beautiful toad… remind us that nature still holds precious secrets that we are still uncovering.” Then, lest listeners discount the find as trivial, this scientist, no doubt thinking about the incredibly enmeshed interdependency of this planet’s natural systems, added: “Their benefits to people should not be underestimated.”

(Thanks to Jamie K. Reaser for bringing this to my attention.)

Only One Voice March 26, 2010

Sometimes the life of a changemaker, even when dealing in gentle aspects like education and consciousness shift, gets rough. Bucking dominant norms can sometimes make a person feel quite alone. So we seek out kindred spirits for bolstering and comfort and inspiration to continue going. But what if they’re hard to find?

The following poem was written by the Carmelite nun Jessica Powers.

I carry it around in my wallet for emergency purposes.

/ l \

Only One Voice

Only one voice

but it was singing

and the words danced and as they danced held high

oh with what grace their lustrous bowls of joy.

Even in dark we knew they danced but we

none of us touched the hem of what would happen.

Somewhere around a whirl, a swirl, a pirouette

the bowls flew and spilled

and we were drenched, drenched to the dry bone

in our miserable night.

Only one voice

but morning lay awake in her bed and listened

and then was out and racing over the hills

to hear and see,

and water and light and air and the tall trees

and people young and old began to hum

the catchy, catchy tune

and everyone danced and everyone everything

even the last roots of the doddering oak

believed in life.

/ l \

This poem came to me 15 years ago in a chapbook published by other elderly Carmelite nuns with whom I became friends. The illustrator of the chapbook, Sister Marie Celeste, had been cloistered for most of her 70-odd years but in the last few, she and her comrades realized that the increasingly difficult world situation meant that God really needed them to work in it now, instead of contemplating its troubles from behind the walls. They risked excommunication over this struggle but ultimately won out.

Thus I had the incredible privilege of studying alongside them while completing my BA at Old College in Reno, Nevada, a short-lived experiment begun by Father Jack Leary, the Jesuit priest and intellectual who had previously founded New College of California.

In an interesting twist of fate, in later years I came to teach at the North Bay branch of New College. And I read this poem for my students at every graduation ceremony. So the wheel comes around, and the bardic gift goes on.

Do you have a favorite first-aid poem for the soul?

/ l \