Posted for Poets United Poetry Pantry
the color of life, of growth,
tall, spindly pine
draped in old man's beard
a thousand fern fronds
under whose umbrella
twin blooms
small as a baby's tears
peek pertly
jagged stump
covered in soft thick moss
framed by tall cedars
among whose lofty branches
songbirds flit
their trill echoing
across the sleepy forest
winding trails
through the silence
paths springy, living
underfoot
where we walk
heads thrown back
-alive!-
one with the ferns the fronds the trees
their height that teaches us to strive
the sky
a compass for
all our flighty dreams
clouds drifting by
one breath two breaths
leafy breath
and human sigh
birdsong
ringing through
the silent canopy
piercing me through
with each piercing
I'm made new
becoming
becalming
forest floor alive
under our
live feet
step so lightly
don't crush the mosses!
fairies drinking dewdrops
from the white bell-shaped blossoms
frogs in the skunk cabbage
yellow jonquils
line the deadened pond
the forest holds its breath
and waits
it waits
till we are gone
It's beautiful. i can see the forest in my mind's eye. You've captured it really well.
ReplyDeleteOne day long ago, a sage was asked about life, its origins and the force behind it. He pointed to a huge banyan tree, very, very old, and asked his disciple to get a fruit of the banyan tree. The disciple managed to secure a small reddish fruit and laid it before the master. Cut it in half, what do you see? the master asked. The disciple cut it in half, and pointed out the tiniest possible seeds. Cut a seed in half, what do you see? the master asked. Its so tiny, I cant see anything at all! replied the student, the disciple.
ReplyDeleteThats the origin of life, the master said, the origin of this huge tree, which you cant see, but has the entire tree subsumed in it!
That is so beautiful Sherry. I love the thought of the forest holding its breath, waiting until we have gone.
ReplyDeleteWow, this is an amazing piece of life penned in words that paint green...a forest of promise and promises that will live long past our thoughts...thank you for sharing Sherry...bkm
ReplyDeleteYour are truly a friend of nature! Thanks for this great poem.
ReplyDeleteSherry,
ReplyDeleteSimply magical, I could visualize all of this right down to the fairies. Great imagery.
Pamela
you have captured the magic in nature vividly and beautifully ..
ReplyDeletekeep it up.
Yes...you have definitely scribed an unforgettable image here...felt.
ReplyDeleteThis was magical to me; I so love the forest, nature. It reminds me of a park, back home. So much moss, I loved the way the light hit it.
ReplyDeleteI also love the ferns when they unfold in the spring. We call them fiddleheads! Thanks for the trip down my magical path, back home.
Wonderful!
Sherry,
ReplyDeleteYour words take me back to a Forest Park in Northern Ireland, where we used to take our four children for walks and escapes, every weekend.
Thank you for evoking those memories with your wonderful words here, Sherry.
Best wishes, Eileen
As you know, I love forest poems. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI love the hush of pines! Lovely poem. I just love it!
ReplyDeleteI agreen with Diane. Beautifully written, Sherry! You are so good with capturing the essence of nature.
ReplyDeleteYou've invoked the atmosphere of the forest alright ...
ReplyDeleteA beautiful tribute to the colour green, totally the colour of growth... and we never stop growing till we die. This felt like a walk through the rainforest, Sherry - so alive, so uplifting - thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for sharing your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteYou made me want to walk and sleep on the forest floor...very beautiful and meaningful to read tonight ~
ReplyDeleteLovely photo - but I like even better the way, in words, you build up the whole picture bit by bit.
ReplyDeleteThis is fun and enchanting! I want to be there! Just gorgeous in your description...with a bit of fantasy for the imagination as well.
ReplyDeletewonderful soft, green, mossy imagery! I can feel and smell this poem. Very nice!
ReplyDeleteAs one with nature. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteIn reverence you teach us to tread lightly in the forest you love.
ReplyDeletethe colors, the sights, the smells - such a beautiful evocation of a special place. And the inclusion "old man's beard" has such a sense of place and time. Someone said "as one"... wholly concur.
ReplyDeleteI love the way this makes me feel, like I'm there, seeing through your eyes, feeling through your skin... your words, they pierce my soul and "with each piercing/I'm made new"
ReplyDelete" with each piercing
ReplyDeleteI'm made new " love this. Enough said :)
A magical poem - of "baby's tears and fairies drinking dewdrops" of the forest waiting, waiting there long after we are gone.... Lovely :)
ReplyDeleteLet us keep this picture and feeling with us for peace and healing, especially this week!
ReplyDeleteyour last lines are exactly how I feel when I get the chance to visit my favorite sacred tree place. Thank you,
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
Nature has bestowed everything to mankind in abundance. This is so so beautiful, Sherry!!
ReplyDeleteYour words are magical,Sherry..A rich ,green feeling I am having after reading this marvelous piece..
ReplyDeleteso liked the old man's beard
ReplyDeletestill meditations of white over here - so this was a welcome piece
ReplyDeleteYou conjure up another world - a beautiful one!
ReplyDelete