the colour 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
'til we are gone
for my prompt at earthweal: Dreaming In Green
Love this ~~ and love "Old Man with Beard"
ReplyDeleteI love the way you enter the forest here, engaging every sense.
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking me into the Dream of Green. I smiled at this part, it's what dreams are made of magic.
ReplyDeletedon't crush the mosses!
fairies drinking dewdrops
from the white bell-shaped blossoms
Like an enchanted forest....
ReplyDeleteI have goosebumps!! I'm working on a book for my soon to be born grandson and jotting down things I'd like to sketch and paint and I have on my paper fiddlehead ferns and an umbrella~ Beautiful, Sherry... I love the Old Man's Beard and all of the beauties you have shared..it paints a vivid Dream of Green!
ReplyDeletelush, and lovingly rendered, Sherry ~
ReplyDeleteI was breathing in sighs to the rhythm and sounds of your words, Sherry! I can just imagine the forest's sigh of relief in those last lines. But surely we have the knowledge to save, as well as to destroy her!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous and green in every word, Sherry. I especially like "..the sky
ReplyDeletea compass for/all our flighty dreams..." Thanks so much for your challenge which nudged me to write. I need quite the shove some days.
The green dream is -- alive! -- present and accounted in full here on this walk in the woods. Preserving that walk, its moment and glory, saves us readers too.
ReplyDeleteThe forest is so alive. Green! in your words. just read Damnation Spring about spraying in timber country, the downing of the redwoods. Tragic and senseless.
ReplyDelete"the forest holds its breath
ReplyDeleteand waits
it waits
'til we are gone"
there are so many great lines in this, too many to quote. i love that ending, love the phrasing in this poem, it has its own language. very well done sherry, a pleasure to read. also you guys do such a great job with your challenges, and the articles that go with them, so thoughtful, well researched, informative, i could go on and on. i don't spend enough time here at earthweal, i need to fix that.
"with each piercing
ReplyDeleteI'm made new
becoming
becalming" Every image from this walk, from trees to fairies, invited me in, but two ideas--this one of being pierced--and the other of the forest holding her breath til we leave. Breathless in the calm, I walk beside you.
I am Susan!
DeleteIt's kind of funny, as someone who grew up in the woods, how quickly this brings back images of just walking through the silence of the trees and the green.
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful. Calming. What appreciation we must have for all that is life-giving green.
ReplyDeleteYou have embodied the many voices of "alive!" and its unending wonder.
ReplyDeletethe forests of British Columbia look to be extraordinary in TV programs I've seen. I love the way you capture the magic of it all in your poem. Suzanne - Mapping Uncertainty
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this wonderful forest walk with - breathing all that green was wonderful.
ReplyDelete"the sky, a compass for
ReplyDeleteall our flighty dreams."