PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

We were sitting at a picnic table amid the tranquility of Spring

Enjoying the beauty that surrounded us…listening to Nature sing…

Suddenly a hawk flew overhead…with something in it’s claws

Followed closely by a screaming crow…we could hear her angry caws.

With a baby crow stolen from the nest…today the hawk and crow were rivals…

Both looking out for their own families…both driven by survival.

In that struggle for survival…fate is not always ours to choose…

Today the hawk would win and today…the crow would lose.

We don’t often think of animal emotions…although we find them all appealing

Since we cannot understand their language…we don’t think of how they’re feeling…

But that wasn’t true with the momma crow today…

As the hawk flew over us with her baby in its claws

We could see the desperation in her wings and hear the sorrow in her caws…

And we could hear her plaintive cries long after the two birds disappeared 

And we knew that she as weeping though we couldn’t see her tears…

We could not hate the hawk…even though we sat in disbelief…

but as we listened to the crow’s lament…we couldn’t help but share her grief.

Once I wondered but now I smile when I see her talking 

to the butterflies…the flowers and the trees…

speaking softly to the stars, the sun, the moon…

whispering to the mountains and the seas…

For she is merely whispering she loves them…

and asking them, if not today…perhaps a little later

would they find it in their hearts to relay her message

back to their creator.

Furrowed grasses,

glistening greenly,

Bidding birds,

keek-ing keenly,

Loosening leaves,

ruffle lightly, Listen.

Dusty shoes,

slowly strolling,

Puffy winds,

wisping warmly,

Sunshine smiles,

brightly beaming, Look.

They were walking in the forest when the little boy started to stare

“Daddy, when a tree dies in the forest,” he asked, “does anybody care?”

“Are their other trees around him who will cry or weep or moan?

Does a tree have other tree friends…or does it die alone?”

“A tree has many friends.” His father said. “You can see them all around.”

Then he sat his son upon the very tree that had fallen to the ground.

“Trees and the all the trees around them have many sisters, many brothers

And with the help of the sun, the rain and the Earth they rely on one another.”

“They rely on each other for food and shelter…and when it’s time to say goodbye 

I do believe they mourn together…I do believe they cry.”

“Look upon the ground beneath you” the father said, it’s proof of how trees grieve.

When one of their own has fallen…their teardrops are their leaves.”

“When one tree dies word is sent through all tree roots. 

It travels to the their ears

and they weep for one another until the ground is covered with their tears.”

“Tears that gracefully fall to Earth,

tears all trees release,

tears that form a blanket

so their friends can rest in peace.”

“No…you needn’t worry about trees my son.” the father said.

“These leaves prove they are never on their own….

and prove that any tree that passes

will never die alone.

When you take a walk in nature…you discover wonderful creations

And you realize perfection is in constant transformation.

Take today for instance…everywhere we walked we could feel a connection.

You might say this morning’s walk was one of sheer perfection.

The sun was peeking from behind the clouds…the clouds scattering to make room…

The birds were singing back and forth…the azaleas in bloom

A tiny tree frog crossed our path…heading only he knows where.

A cool breeze wafted through the trees…the smell of jasmine in the air.

When we reached the water we looked up…the ospreys high above us soared

An old man walking all alone…drawing hearts upon the shore.

Fiddler crabs scurrying speedily back into their little caves

Mullets jumping out of the water where the ripples meet the waves.

Egrets and Ibises using their beaks as if they were their hands

searching for their breakfast…in the water…on the land.

As we headed home I spotted a rose and gently bent to smell it…

I would mention the bougainvillea…but I don’t now how to spell it!

Just before reaching our house…a ladybug, on my shoulder…stopped to play…

It was a perfect beginning…to another perfect day.

Yes, we never know when we step out…what wonders will awake…

Which is why we look forward to tomorrow…

to see what form perfection takes.

I stepped outside

To see the view

The sky still dark

The rain just thru

Then the sun

Burst out its rays

And they shown down

Thru all the haze

So it appeared

As if next door

The arc those blazing

Colours bore

It seemed so close

I could just reach

And with my hand

Those colours breach

And as I stood there

In the light

It was so clear

It was so bright

The air was fresh

So clean and pure

I was amazed

By its allure

My nostrils flared

My senses peaked

The moment seemed

So quite unique

But as I gazed

More clouds appeared

And then my rainbow

Disappeared

BOEMS by  JA 218    

Why do we come to the water?  

Why along its shores do we stroll?

Perhaps it’s one way to replenish our hearts…

a way to enliven our souls.

Why do we come to the forests…

Why do the trees and the animals we embrace?

Could it be in the forest time has no meaning…

the world moves at a much slower pace.

Why are we silent at a sunset…

why does a sunrise make us smile…

Perhaps they help put the ills of the world behind us…

if only for a little while.

Why do we walk among the flowers 

that paint their colors on the ground…

Perhaps to be surrounded by the splendor of nature… 

to feel her beauty all around.

For nature lives by a different set of rules…

not by the rules of man

Nature does not affix labels to herself…

the way that mankind can.

In nature there is no prejudice, no sexism…

no homophobia filling the air

No abuse, no hatred, no bitterness…

no racism anywhere…

Nature knows it’s species are different…

but still part of the same habitat…

She never give her creatures demeaning names…

like ugly or stupid or fat…

Nature accepts and celebrates her multiplicity…

and strives to keep all her species alive…

For she knows without this wonderful medley…

nature, herself, wouldn’t survive.

Perhaps that’s why we come to the water…to the forest…to the flowers…

to experience beauty in her diversity…

To come to a place…

unlike the one we’ve created for ourselves…

to encounter life as it was designed to be.

Nature has provided her creatures with a beauty all their own…

but it was here she began to improvise…

for she knew to be truly beautiful…

all creatures must synthesize. 

She gave to each tree its own artistry…

despite how tall or big…or wide…

yet she knew the true beauty of the forest

comes when her trees stand side by side.

She gave each bird a unique and beautiful voice…

despite their differing shape or size…

Yet she knew the true beauty of their voices…

Is heard when they harmonize.

She gave each snowflake a unique beauty…

making sure no two are the same

Yet she knew it is only when they lie together…

that their true beauty is proclaimed.

So doesn’t it stand to reason…

if nature went to all this fuss…

To ensure true beauty is only achieved in concert…

she would do the same for us?

She gave all humans similar features…

she created us this way…

making us all the same…but different…

each with our own unique display…

She meant for us to come together…

like the trees the birds the snow.

She understood only by coming together…

can our true beauty grow.

But in all our years upon this Earth

We humans are divided still….

Which means we have never realized our true beauty…

Alas…

perhaps we never will.

We were hiking in the woods yesterday…very near a waterfall

The colors of Autumn were in their infancy….just beginning to enthrall…

Many leaves were still green and as we looked around

some had already changed their hue…others had fallen to the ground.

The sun was shining through the tree tops…the aroma of pine was sweet…

and as we walked along the forest path…leaves were falling at our feet.

We were heading back toward civilization…our saunter almost done…

when we happened on a tree that had dropped it’s leaves…

all it’s leaves…save one.

We couldn’t believe our eyes and both immediately stopped to see…

Sure enough:

One leaf which had turned to yellow was still clinging to its tree.

There is a fluidity to nature…a wonderful asymmetry…

A gentle random way about her…that adds to her artistry.

Yet sometimes I have to wonder…when I think about this land…

If nature is completely random…or if sometimes things are planned.

In the profusion of leaves surrounding us…could it be that we were blessed

to come face to face with one leaf…that stood out from all the rest?

Could it be nature took the time to set this leaf apart

so we could discover its singular beauty…one natural work of art?

As we began to walk away we happened to stop and turn around

in time to see that lonely leaf fall gently the ground.

We smiled having witnessed this…and I am now of the belief

that nature allowed us a moment…to see the beauty in one leaf.