DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

Take your fine-toothed comb and slowly begin to cut through the stack of paper labeled “dissertation” on the desktop. Like an old-time medical dissection theatre, a jury of our peers will gaze down upon the age old traditions of the academy. Each stroke revealing a layer of an onion, or the ring of a tree - marking of presence and growth, a sign of where my thoughts once were and then where they were again mere moments or years later. Every 2nd, 3rd or 5th page titled Introduction. Now you are half way through, the ragged edges of each side of the stack neatly displaying bisected assertions of new beginnings. Can you tell yet that I am a meditation teacher yet, practiced in the arts of being here now. and now. and now? A new twist on an old joke: How many introductions does it take to pass a dissertation defense? Well, let’s start at the beginning….

acres of clear-cut stumpage;

amidst the refuse of capital

a sprig of new growth