Studio 299 is an organization established for the community that lives on and near Highway 299 as it winds through the Trinity Mountians in the far northern regions of California.  Over the years, the development of the organization has varied along side of the changing faces of it's members, but it has always remained true to the support of the local artists and community members.

I first met Mediha at a one of the groups supported by Studio 299.  It was the "Mountain Voices", a group of   poets to which I am also a part.  I found that her gentle voice and insight to life drew me into what ever subject that her focus was intended. 

"The Slaying of the Serpent" which refers to the large and great blackberry bushes found in this region is one of my favorites and I am very pleased to share it with you.

The Poets Circle
of
Friends
That first fall
when I cut myself loose from
the city and moved to country mountains
the blackberries grew thick
around the spring-fed pond,
strangling the little oasis
as the city had done me.

To ease the sadness created
by friends and family
not able to understand
the need for open space
where eyes have a place to roam
and the soul a place to breathe,
I cut away blackberries.

Day after day, dressed
in armor, I fought
with berry-serpents
who bit with sharp teeth,
whipping and lashing to
find and draw blood.

I knew there would be no
end.  Year after year
the serpents would be there,
waiting to return in bold
green shoots.  But it wasn’t
about winning.

It was about space, about
eagles soaring overhead, about
kinglets dancing in the alder at
the edge of the pond, about
frogs singing in the water iris’,
and me
returning to the house,
tired and sore
and forgiving myself
for giving wings
to my heart..
Go to the Home Page
Slaying the Serpent
written by Mediha Saliba
Poetry by other Poets
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She has published two nonfiction books. “Shadows of the Puppet,” the story of her mother growing up in Indonesia during WWII, and “Stone Secrets,” a story about healing and seeing your own life as a hero’s journey. Mediha now lives in Trinity County and continues her work with poetry.
Other Works by the Poet
Poetry of the Mountain Voices
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Home Page
Website
Mediha Saliba
More Poetry by Mediha
July-August, 2005
The Hoopa Valley
Mediha lives within the region that is home to the Hupa Tribe, the Karuk Tribe and the Yurok Tribe..