Greetings, One & All~

As the Wolf Moon wanes and snow melts off the mountains here in northern Sonora, February finds your intrepid correspondent immersed in creative development for upcoming events. With best wishes for healing healthy energy and creative inspiration to all, enjoy these glimpses of what’s to come in this February issue of your A 440 Newsletter.


Myths & Masks

Many thanks to those of you who carried your December reservations over to the new dates for my Myths & Masks performances at Invisible Theatre on March 25th, 26th & 27th, with evening shows at 7 PM on Thursday & Friday, and a 2 PM matinee on Saturday, and welcome to those of you yet to join us for this enchanting excursion into mythopoetic storytelling, multicultural mask art and world music.

information & reservations at:

http://www.invisibletheatre.com/What-s_on_Stage/Coming_Soon/coming_soon.html






Nakai & Clipman

R. Carlos Nakai & Will Clipman will bring their ever-evolving Awakening the Fire performance to the Community Performing Arts Center in Green Valley AZ on Wednesday April 7th at 7 PM. This show is already SOLD OUT, but you can add your name to the waiting list for tickets at:

https://performingartscenter.thundertix.com/events/170731





Indigenous Cafe

And speaking of Awakening the Fire, the song Standing Stones from that album was recently featured on the Indigenous Cafe podcast hosted by Roman Orona, the creator of iamHUMAN Media and (not coincidentally) a member of the global native fusion trio Medicine Arrow, along with myself and renowned singer, songwriter, guitarist and Native American flutist Aaron White. You can hear all the exhilarating and eclectic music Roman has curated from the global indigenous community at:


https://indigenouscafe.podbean.com/e/everything-with-tact-1610389988/





Restoration & Renewal

I will return to Canyon Ranch Woodside Wellness Retreat on May 27th-30th to present Rhythms of Restoration & Renewal, a weekend retreat drawing on the inspiration of the ancient redwood forests of coastal California to re-establish our innate connection with the natural order, and reawaken our sense of balance, harmony and wellness through a creative exploration of storytelling, music and poetry. The web posting for my event is in development as we speak; meanwhile, you can learn more about Woodside at:

https://www.canyonranch.com/woodside/





Photo of the Month

Some years ago, the right-of-way along the southern edge of Rancho Improvisoso was claimed by eminent domain for utility upgrades, and we lost a beautiful old palo verde tree to the chainsaws. We were able, however, to persuade the crew to relocate rather than destroy a number of small saguaros; one of these ended up right outside our kitchen window. The sensitive top of its single, armless trunk got scorched by our intense summer sun, and from that scarring two new trunks emerged. I have named this unique specimen The Christopher-Clipman Cactus in an alliterative tribute to the resiliency and adaptability of relationship.






Poem of the Month


Blue Dolphin



This is what happens when sacred clay

kneads clay that will one day be sacred:

immutable and malleable become one.



This is what’s preserved: the whorls

of your thumbprints where the fins

emerge from arched torso, crescent



fingernail moons incised where you

shaped the snout, all recalled tonight

by pale white brushstrokes of cloud



that frame a different crescent moon

as it sets in a starry winter desert sky

on the eve of the rebuilding of your



brain. I immerse myself in a constant

flow of healing and protective energy

streamed your way, await the brief



throb of a device that may bring news,

alert in my suspended animation as

you are inert under heavy blankets



of anesthesia, as the shamans of our

scientific age lean over you to scry

the inner workings of a living thing.



I bring your blue dolphin to my desk

and set it up on its tail to see where

your five-or-six-year-old fingertip



lifted up its chin just so to bring the

entire form into balance: to bring it

to life. It leaps forever now into the



trough between this wave and the next,

the silent space between the glowing

blips that mark the beat of your heart,



and I marvel at how time moves through

us–not we through it–with a stealth that

even death would envy. But we don’t die.









© Will Clipman 2021











~May the magic of myth and music unmask your inner medicine~









Pursue your chosen path with passion, perseverance, patience and purpose.

~Guillaume Henri



Will Clipman

poet ~ percussionist ~ maskmaker ~ storyteller ~ performing artist ~ educator

www.willclipman.com
williamclipman@aol.com
facebook.com/willclipman

520.591.0776