Sonnet LXXXIX: The Trees of the Garden
Ye who have passed Death's haggard hills; and ye
Whom trees that knew your sires shall cease to know
And still stand silent:—is it all a show,—
A wisp that laughs upon the wall?—decree
Of some inexorable supremacy
Which ever, as man strains his blind surmise
From depth to ominous depth, looks past his eyes,
Sphinx-faced with unabashèd augury?
Nay, rather question the Earth's self. Invoke
The storm-felled forest-trees moss-grown to-day
Whose roots are hillocks where the children play;
Or ask the silver sapling 'neath what yoke
Those stars, his spray-crown's clustering gems, shall wage
Their journey still when his boughs shrink with age.
poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
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Apple-Blossom
Blossom of the apple trees!
Mossy trunks all gnarled and hoary,
Grey boughs tipped with rose-veined glory,
Clustered petals soft as fleece
Garlanding old apple trees!
How you gleam at break of day!
When the coy sun, glancing rarely,
Pouts and sparkles in the pearly
Pendulous dewdrops, twinkling gay
On each dancing leaf and spray.
Through your latticed boughs on high,
Framed in rosy wreaths, one catches
Brief kaleidoscopic snatches
Of deep lapis-lazuli
In the April-coloured sky.
When the sundown's dying brand
Leaves your beauty to the tender
Magic spells of moonlight splendour,
Glimmering clouds of bloom you stand,
Turning earth to fairyland.
Cease, wild winds, O, cease to blow!
Apple-blossom, fluttering, flying,
Palely on the green turf lying,
Vanishing like winter snow;
Swift as joy to come and go.
poem by Mathilde Blind
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Save Forests and Rare Species
The Franklin forests are extinct;
These trees of beauty are now rare;
No more are they found in the wild;
Their fragrant flowers tempt a child!
Last seen in 18 zero3,
By Altamaha river-side –
A deciduous tree or shrub,
It grows upto a twenty feet.
With leaves that change color by fall,
Its snow-white flowers are showy;
With golden yellow stamens free,
It is now grown in pots from seeds!
But nothing like the forests wild
Of Franklin trees that grew on own;
You could not find a path through them –
Home to wild animals many.
How Nature rears a forest dense!
–The secrets, no man deciphers;
The way they flourish in the wild,
No gardener can do like-wise!
As man destroys more forest trees,
For want of newer farming land,
Wild wondrous trees then cease to be,
And other species vanish too.
Deforestation is a crime
That has gone uncontrolled with time;
Rare species of trees, shrubs and beasts
Have been effaced from earth with ease.
The earth has lesser green cover!
’Tis growing bald, much more each day,
As forest trees are felled for wood,
At rates more than we ever should.
World’s rain-forests are turning scarce –
A cause of global-warming fast;
Landslides and floods are dangers new;
More species turn something of past!
Trees extract carbon-dioxide,
And make the air less polluted;
Wild beasts are on the rampage when
Their forest habitats are gone.
Save forests and afforest, man;
The clouds bring rain when trees ask for;
Wild beasts need forests for their homes;
Preserve forests in ways you can.
Copyright by Dr John Celes 6-23-2008
poem by John Celes
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The New Forest
Tall trees offer the birds and beasts much protection;
Of flora and fauna, there is a truly fabulous collection.
Through the forest, ponies roam around wild and free;
Up above their heads, the small birds nest in the trees.
Under the canopy of the trees, the world seems so dim,
But, in grassy clearings, the sunlight is suddenly let in.
Trees, caught from falling, stand at an angle, inclined;
With other trees, their twisted limbs are now entwined.
Rabbits risk emerging from warren holes to run around;
Their long ears stand erect, listening for the tiniest sound.
The forest is punctuated with patches of soft, marshy land,
Where large pools of stagnant water, always seem to stand.
Herds of deer roam around, with their heads held up high;
But on seeing any human, they suddenly feel slightly shy.
Earthen tracks have been formed, by countless falling feet;
Eager to avoid the hidden dangers, of the soft bogs of peat.
Couples companionably dawdle, as they exercise their dogs,
Who, in their eagerness, vault over fallen, moss covered logs.
The boughs of Silver birch trees gently shimmer in the sun;
Twigs snap under foot, sounding like a shot fired from a gun.
The silence is sometimes broken, in places, by passing trains,
But once they've passed by, peace and quiet, once again, reign.
Leaves, twigs, pine cones, and berries, carpet the forest's floor.
For birds and animals, the forest is Mother Nature's food store.
The forest is a sanctuary from the pressures of modern living;
The pace there, compared to everyday life, is more forgiving.
The forest can be a magical place; it seems almost enchanted.
Tiny tots believe fairies live there and want their wishes granted.
Here and there, the ground rises into grassy mounds and banks.
The trees stand tall, like the attentive soldiers in military ranks.
In the shady spots, unfurl a multitude of magnificent spiky ferns.
In autumn, dressed in bright colours, the trees almost seem to burn.
Broken boughs lie abandoned; under lichen laden logs, insects hide.
Streams meander through the forest, and the surrounding countryside.
All of this outstanding natural beauty, is given to us humans for free;
There isn't a more tranquil place upon this earth, where I'd rather be.
poem by Angela Wybrow
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Song of the Trees
1
WE are the Trees.
Our dark and leafy glade
Bands the bright earth with softer mysteries.
Beneath us changed and tamed the seasons run:
In burning zones, we build against the sun
Long centuries of shade.
2
We are the Trees,
Who grow for man’s desire,
Heat in our faithful hearts, and fruits that please.
Dwelling beneath our tents, he lightly gains
The few sufficiencies his life attains—
Shelter, and food, and fire.
3
We are the Trees
That by great waters stand,
By rills that murmur to our murmuring bees.
And where, in tracts all desolate and waste,
The palm-foot stays, man follows on, to taste
Springs in the desert sand.
4
We are the Trees
Who travel where he goes
Over the vast, inhuman, wandering seas.
His tutors we, in that adventure brave—
He launched with us upon the untried wave,
And now its mastery knows.
5
We are the Trees
Who bear him company
In life and death. His happy sylvan ease
He wins through us; through us, his cities spread
That like a forest guard his unfenced head
’Gainst storm and bitter sky.
6
We are the Trees.
On us the dying rest
Their strange, sad eyes, in farewell messages.
And we, his comrades still, since earth began,
Wave mournful boughs above the grave of man,
And coffin his cold breast.
poem by Mary Colborne-Veel
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One Simple Dream
Along the road, the trees
Stand like soldiers at ease
Branches trudge like bayonets
I walk on underneath
The bracing sky
Though my eyes are naked
Collecting stars
From the depth of the universe
There is my dream
poem by Efren Petalver Carranza
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More Snow.... (Will Fall)
this body has to die,
to decompose back into earth,
for this spirit to step free,
and remember who it 'is'...
we borrow urns for the journey,
but urns are not the journey.
and pots made of clay,
cannot hold oceans forever.
the dance of death,
smells of womb, and depth...
the hidden name,
sets paper walls ablaze.
the kiss of death's lips,
turns great trees toward winter.
leaving stains in the snow...
ah, but more snow will fall!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Labour — Capital — Land
IN that rich Archipelago of sea
With fiery hills, thick woods wherein the mias
Browses along the trees, and god-like men
Leave monuments of speech too large for us,
There are strange forest-trees. Far up, their roots
Spread from the central trunk, and settle down
Deep in the life-fed earth, seventy feet below.
In the past days here grew another tree,
On whose high fork the parasitic seed
Fell and sprang up, and finding life and strength
In the disease, decrepitude and death
Of that it fed on, utterly consumed it,
And stands the monument of Nature's crime!
So Labour with his parasites, the two
Great swollen Robbers, Land and Capital,
Stands to the gaze of men but as a heap
Of rotted dust whose only use must be
To rich the roots of the proud stem that killed it!
poem by Francis William Lauderdale Adams
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LIFE and DEATH
You would know the secret of death;
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in life?
The owl whose night eyes are blind to daylight,
Cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you yearn to see the spirit of death,
Open your heart wide to the wonder of life.
For life and death are one, even as a river and sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent,
Knowledge of the great beyond;
And like seeds dreaming ‘neath the snow,
Your heart dreams of spring.
Trust your dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling subject,
Waiting to be honored by his king.
Is the subject not joyful beneath his trembling?
That he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked,
In the wind and melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing,
But to free the breath from restless tides,
That it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you sing?
And when you have reached the mountain top,
Then you shall begin to climb!
And when the earth claims your limbs,
Then shall you truly dance.
(Inspired by Kahlil Gibran)
ROTMS
ROTMS
poem by Ray Lucero
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Death, Inevitable Death
Death, inevitable Death.
So now You come to show Your world,
Hence the blackened cloak – unfurled.
And peering down upon my form
– Bereft of pity – Your eyes of storm.
Death, inexorable Death.
‘When? ’ The only question out of Thee.
My dream retorts 'But ne’er for me! ’
But now awake, I bid you so –
My giving tears cry ‘Where to go? ’
Death, adamant Death.
You cast Your spell and guide me 'way,
For life and I have had our day.
And what of me? I prey You, tell!
Be glorious in Heaven or gnarled in Hell?
Death, ineluctable Death.
Oh wiry ghoul, I'm here to follow –
I leave my body grey and shallow.
‘Come! ’ You bid in thund’ring tones,
‘Beg farewell to shattered bones.’
Copyright © Mark R Slaughter 2009
Death
Death death
Death death death
Death death death death
Death death death death death
Death death death death death death death death
Death death death death death death death death
Death death death death death
Death death death death
Death death death
Death death
Death
poem by Mark R Slaughter
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Tree Is My Animal
Tree is My Animal 7/09
Tree is my animal
And I burst forth from the soil
Past root, worm and grub
Unfurled now my leaves seek mother sun
Nourished and illuminated
I stand neath Methuselahs
Father old and true
Aged moss (ancient moss)
Comforts and warms me
Vines find shelter and comfort along my bones
Mother sun still sings
And centuries have past
But as a new nest appears in my arms
Oh I know I have much to go
And I am now Methuselah
And stand next to my father old and true
And watch as my young sapling grows neath me
My love is alone
I am alone
I stretch to touch her leaves and tickle her branches
My poems I send on the wings of birds, butterflies and bees
I feel the scent of her in the perfumed pollen born on wisps of wind
Wherever you are my Love
I will find you
Though seeds may scatter
And leaves grow few
Though centuries may pass
Here I stand
Now
Tendrils touch
At long last
A Moorish lattice of leaf and bark
Filigree
A canopy of lovers to shade
Lovers from the unwanted gaze of mother sun
Our songs sung by birds at play in our tender union
Our union complete
Til centuries wither our bones
Then to earth
A loamy death to share
This union and
Alone no more
poem by Guillermo Veloso
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Forest For The Trees
When youre a young man, down and out
You really need someone to help you out
It looks like life or death is your only choice
Its really hard to see
The forest for the trees
The forest for the trees
And when you get angry and everythings black or white
You should know that it isnt that simple, no ones always right
You know that youre life it worth living
You gotta start taking if no one else is giving
And if youre not afraid to open your eyes
You may be pleasantly surprised
Thigs are never as bad as they seem
You just gotta learn to see
The forest for the trees
So if you need somebody, tell them please
If you want someone, get up off your knees
Things are never as bad as they seem
You just gotta learn to see
The forest for the trees
song performed by by Huey Lewis And The News
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Ethiopia
Yes, Ethiopia yet shall stretch
Her bleeding hands abroad;
Her cry of agony shall reach
The burning throne of God.
The tyrant's yoke from off her neck,
His fetters from her soul,
The mighty hand of God shall break
And spurn the base control.
Redeemed from dust, and freed from chains,
Her sons shall lift their eyes;
From lofty hills and verdant plains
Shall shouts of triumph rise.
Upon the dark, despairing brow
Shall play a smile of peace;
For God shall bend unto her woe,
And bid her sorrows cease.
'Neath sheltering vines and stately palms
Shall laughing children play;
And aged sires, with joyous psalms,
Shall gladden every day.
Secure by night and blest by day,
Shall pass her happy hours;
Within her peaceful bowers.
Thy bleeding hands abroad;
Thy cry of agony shall reach
And find the throne of God.
poem by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
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A Journey Back To Ourselves
as i stare at the
rain
i remember
trees
transparent and
cold
trees without
leaves
i imagine
twigs
or roots or
trunks
they are never
there
no matter how
trees are tears
without leaves
without roots
with so much
salt in each
and then you
touch the waves
of the imaginary
sea and then
your journey back
to you begins
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Forest
In that magic forest, towering trees
Unexpectedly come forward from the haze.
Out of the earth, roots spring from other roots,
Like the arms of the dwellers of burial vaults.
Under the cover of the blazing autumn leaves
Lonesome giants, trolls, and lions used to live.
Here sailors saw the tracks in golden sand
Left behind by a six-fingered human hand.
Peers of France and Arthurian valiant knights
Never set on this forbidden place their sights.
Nor the bushes ever hid a pirates’ lair,
Nor a hermit ever made his lodging there…
Only once, they saw in a lurid tempest’s light -
Cat-headed woman softly stepped into the night;
Doomed to wear a solid silver coronet,
She was lamenting and sobbing till the sunset.
No communion was given by a priest
When, by quiet dawn, she passed away in peace.
All this happened, all this happened in those years,
Which have passed without leaving any trace.
All this happened, all this happened in a realm,
Which would never come across your wildest dreams.
I imagined all of this by looking at
Fiery braids that always snake around your head,
Looking at your ever changing greenish eyes,
They're akin to Persian feverish turquoise.
Well, perhaps that forest is a soul of yours,
Well, perhaps that forest 's always my remorse.
Or perhaps, one day when we will die,
To this forest we will travel – you and I.
poem by Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilev
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Early Works - What Is The Depth Of A Man
What is the depth of a man,
what makes him courageous
in front of mortal fears
or walk straight and tall
when his eyes are blinded with tears?
What is the depth of a man
what gives him the spark
deep in his heart
to do good
when only evil surrounds him.
What is the depth of a man
that can’t be conquered
is it the love of a woman
is it loyalty
or is it the belief that each man should be free.
What is the depth of a man?
Date unknown, probably late 1960’s
poem by David Harris
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Mortal Wrinkles
The window arrests me by its side
Through its square making me ride
Every day a serene green does it show
Feel but today gonna be a different show
The studded trees afar
The nearer trees so far
'Ve been welcomming me to join
The peaks up and the valleys down
The stroking clouds and the murmuring stream..
My soul steps out
Soon reports to have a lookout
Lay there apart two sunset bodies bushed over
As if felled trees with running dews cry over
And my mind back in the past to myself stare...
'A man and a woman happily together
Walking and chatting over years earlier
Deeper, longer and wander
Grow older and older; Their fled children afar..'
Moribund pair one here malignantly in solitary fear
poem by Indira Renganathan
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Let Us Talk About The Hunger
Let's talk about the children
Not the tigers trees or whales
Let's talk about the hunger.
Not the guns sins or jails
Let's talk about the innocent blood
Not god faith or prophets
Let's talk about the tears.
Maybe then we can stop it
Let's talk about the reason
Children sleep out in the cold
I'm tired of the greenhouse speech
It's getting a little old.
Let's talk about the meaning
Of why the world is blind
Sound asleep and dreaming
Everyone has words to cure.
Silent are the voices
When human blood is spilled
Before we save the whales and trees
Let's talk about truth
Children come before the trees
Let's discuss the root.
A noble act indeed
But if we spent it on the children
We would give meaning to the seed
Let's talk about the day
We set the children free
Show them they are loved
More than any animal or tree
poem by Dr.genny Anderson
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No Tree Can Stand Tall Without Roots Spread!
Every seed sends roots first,
Finding for soil and ground
where it can stand firm and tall,
stand firm and tall if roots go
deep,
Spread wide to find The sap! single cell that carry life,
Give life to cells and tissues,
Shoot, barks, branches and
leaves,
feed the leaves exposing leaves
to light, Visible tree stands on exposed
roots, not roots visible, Man made boundaries, fence and
compound,
Can't prevent or limit roots or
branches,
Sometimes absorbing soil here,
Branch will extent to neighbouring house,
How one can limit the nature,
or confine growing tree to
narrow circle drawn by man?
So is every life on Earth!
Mankind is like forest of different trees,
Yet all roots of autotrophic trees
deep in the soil,
Only parasitic have those roots,
pierce other tree's heart! Dive deep into yourself,
O man! Can you survive without
Your roots?
know how you are here,
Is it the mortal parent brought
you here, Or your fate,
Only be grateful to their love and
care forever!
poem by Ramdas Bhandarkar
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Gumdropp Glades
Somewhere far away from the city streets
A meadow of green cotton candy blades
Rolls upon a mound of chocolatey dirt
And the warm cinnamon winds gently flirt
While geysers of cocoa playfully spurt
In a place kids all know, simply, as Gumdropp Glades
Ask Lil' Lew Lemondropp who knows the way
Where the candy's free for the bill's been paid
And the children can eat the sweets all day
Without their teeth ever showing decay
And there are no adults to scowl and say
'Don't spoil your appetite down in Gumdropp Glades'
Someday you should go adventure to see
What lies just past the tall forest blockades
Where the brook that babbles past forest trees
In the glade, turns into sweetest sweet tea
And candy cane bluffs... Quite a sight to see
That rise up high on three sides down in Gumdropp Glades
I hear when we see it we'll lose control
And drink the waterfall of lemonade
While small gumdrops dropp from trees as they sway
We'll wish there would be no end to that day
As we play playfully as children play
When our hopeful eyes finally spy Gumdropp Glades
We'll wish there would be no end to that day
As we play playfully as children play
And we'll hope that we can, forever, stay
Within a gingerbread house, down in Gumdropp Glades
((October 4th,2009))
poem by Danny Speicher
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Lamp of Joy
Your hand touches the moonlight
You make the sea tremble
Earth cannot stop the stars
The wicked arm cannot prevent love
My open heart penetrates the night
Music above the badlands
Oak trees with noble cellos
Voices sweeter than songbirds
We meet like rain in the river
Blueberries grow along the lakes
Wolves are beautiful creations
Freedom is always wild
Come rest my love by the sea
Come listen to the tides
Are we not what we see?
Are we not the forest and hills?
Your past whispers like bluebirds
Tonight you are radiant
Love is a journey into the stars
I see the light of eons
Your hair falls like a garden
Your eyes like ancient moonlight
The shadows are warm elves
Tonight is a mystic candle
Romance lights the lamp of joy
poem by Joseph Narusiewicz
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