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Quote by Janisse Ray

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Wild Spectacle: Seeking Wonders in a World Beyond Humans

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Author

Janisse Ray
Janisse Ray

Janisse Ray, born on February 2, 1962, is an American writer known for her focus on nature, the environment, and the relationship between humans and nature. Ray is renowned for her profound insights into the natural world and her strong advocacy for environmental protection. more

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“When was it that first I heard of the grass harp? Long before the autumn we lived in the China tree; an earlier autumn, then; and of course it was Dolly who told me, no one else would have known to call it that, a grass harp. . . If on leaving town you take the church road you soon will pass a glaring hill of bonewhite slabs and brown burnt flowers: this is the Baptist cemetery. . . below the hill grows a field of high Indian grass that changes color with the seasons: go to see it in the fall, late September, when it has gone red as sunset, when scarlet shadows light firelight breeze over it and the autumn winds strum on its dry leaves sighing human music, a harp of voices. . . It must have been on one of those September days when we were there in the woods gathering roots that Dolly said: Do you hear? that is the grass harp, always telling a story -- it knows the stories of all the people on the hill, of all the people who ever lived, and when we are dead it will tell ours, too.”

DeathDreamsMagicNostalgia
Book:The Grass Harp, Including A Tree of Night and Other Stories
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