
Haiku Magnificent tree Old and wise with history and stories to share Copyright © 2021 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing All Rights Reserved
Haiku Magnificent tree Old and wise with history and stories to share Copyright © 2021 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing All Rights Reserved
My favorite plants do not grow here The soil is not to their liking So I learn to love new exotic ones that tolerate the dryness of our winter and welcome the hot rainy season Gone are the pretty blue hydrangeas and pink hybrid roses tinged with gold Replaced by bright yellow Allamandas and Wedgewood blue Plumbagoes Strikingly elegant the orange-blue Bird of Paradise stands tall holding its head high Instead of sheltering myself under an Oak tree I now sit in the shade of a Royal Poinciana Marveling at its shadow-providing beauty heavily adorned with burnt orange blossoms The palm trees host varieties of orchids clinging to the trunks with their outstretched tendrils Hot sun and heavy rains gift me with a stunning technicolor of exotic blooms A trade I gladly accept Copyright © 2021 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing All Rights Reserved Claudia Schoenfeld, one of the original founders of D'Verse Poets, is hosting tonight and he has prompted us with 'Gardens or Gardening'. A favorite pastime of mine. Image Bird of Paradise Pixabay Image Royal Poinciana by note thanun on Unsplash Image Allamanda by DEZALB from Pixabay Image Plumbago by Ian Lindsay from Pixabay Image Butterfly Orchid Wiki
Haiku A whipping wind blows Whistling through the naked trees Lifting leaves in air Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing ©
Haiku
Trees without their leaves
Standing Stark in the forest
Waiting for springtime
Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing ©
Lightly falling rain
soaking her hair
Excited she moved quickly
Anticipating
Feeling the chill
of the night air
Branches hanging low
snagging her dress
Oblivious to the elements
Extremities turning numb
Her zealous thoughts
she could not repress
Sheltering under the trees
he saw her running
toward him
In all her beauty
even disheveled
she was stunning
Facing each other
he was reticent to speak
Holding back his words
reining in his actions
fearing the havoc
he might wreak
Looking into his eyes
she knew it was wrong
Her head lowered
in a shameful repose
She opened her eyes
but he had already gone
Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©
Word Prompts:
Good Morning!
This is what I came across this week while out and about in nature. As always all photos are taken with an iPhone.
Enjoy your Saturday!
Palm Trees with Earrings
Pretty Lilcac-Blue Clematis
I see a face in this dead Palm tree
A group of Ibis on the trail
An insurance company would call this an “attractive nuisance”. I could easily have stolen these delicious looking mangoes
Keep your eyes open, you never know what you will see!
Musical sound of rain
Against a corrugated roof
A wordless opera
Of drama and fraught
With worry of how to cope
What nature had brought
The planet’s frown
Sucking rain into its cracks
Giving breath to the roots
Of trees shriveling
Into dust on blistered ground
Parched and crippling
The deluge continues
Day after endless day
The energetic monsoon
Providing the needed fuel
Protecting earth’s mortality
In its season of renewal
Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©
Words Prompts: They were definitely not easy today but I think I managed it!
Faces forming in the clouds
Evanescent in the billowing shroud
Colors brilliant at the end of the day
Pinks and blues give way to oranges and grey
Salty spray upon the face
Murmuring waves rolling without a trace
Windblown feathers of the hawk
Spirits of the ocean talk
Energy of the water runs deep
Crying souls succumbed to final sleep
Undulating strength of a million years
Cumulating in a sea of tears
Ancient trees stand witness to it all
Ringed with age, strong and tall
Mountains jagged and insurmountable
Standing close and almost touchable
Beauty abounds but at what cost
Take it now it will soon be lost
Reenergize the human being
This life of yours is worth living
Chakras tell the story
Where you might lose your glory
Balance life as nature does perfect
Or suffer the consequential effect
Christine Bolton
Word of the Day Challenge: Evanescent
Sweet sounds of the mourning dove
The sun filtering through the trees
A clearing full of buttercups and
Daisies fluttering in the summer breeze
You are sitting under the oak
Reading your book so intently
Not noticing my arrival
I observe you patiently
Your hair thick and dark
Glasses on the tip of your nose
Long legs stretched out
Sitting in a comfortable pose
Your book is of course a classic
Catcher in the Rye
You have read it a dozen times
Only you know why
You are in your special place
I do not want to disturb
Happy to be observing you
I will not perturb
Engrossed in your reading
I will watch you for a while
You do not see me
But I am giving you a smile
In nature’s mystical playground
Infused with its energy
I yearn for you from afar
But we can no longer be
I am your past
Gone now from this life
We were once together
When I was your wife
Christine Bolton
I was watching a drama on Amazon yesterday and there was a dialogue between a man and woman who were walking in the city of Dublin getting to know each other. She was from Cuba and he was Irish. She asked him what kind of tree she was looking at and he answered, it was a Sycamore. Admiring it she loved the different shape of the leaves. They talked a little more and he was intrigued and attracted by their cultural differences. Although a nurse in Cuba, her qualifications were not recognized in her adopted country so she resorted to do cleaning work. He asked her if she was homesick and she answered that sadly she was. She said from faraway everyone looks the same, just like the trees. It’s not until you get closer that you can see the differences. In her job she would say hello to people and some would respond, but as a cleaner she was invisible to most and they wouldn’t even bother to acknowledge her. Her words saddened them both while they thought about it. Then she said, “We are all just like the trees, beautiful, and not all the same.”
I love moments that make me think about what was said. It was a comparison I had not considered and found it very relevant. Like the trees, we are all different, indigenous to where we came from, and not always familiar with others and their habitats. We migrate to different corners of the world in search of a better life, adapting to various cultures, lifestyles and living conditions.I celebrate our ethnicities and varying backgrounds. I started to play around with these comparisons and came up with this poem. Hope you like it!
Trees
We are all like trees
Coming in different shapes and sizes
Some come tall, others bushy
Thick with foliage and in other guises
Trees manage to survive
Planted in many places
Like us not all are native
We come with differing faces
Their leaves are varying in size and shape
Some are shed every year
Others remain and are evergreen
As a Christmas tree, bringing good cheer
The leafless trees of Winter
Offer no refuge from the coldness
Sending inhabitants south
To avoid becoming homeless
The swaying southern palms
Majestic and evergreen they remain
Welcoming all who arrive
Giving shelter to sustain
The lofty Bamboo
Strong and slender
Producing melodic sounds
A calming effect rendered
Tropical flowers in December
Bringing joy to your heart
As a good friend would do
When you have been apart
The beauty of a blossom tree
Bringing smiles in the Spring
Reminiscent of a newborn child
Another beginning for everything
The characteristics of trees
And those of the human race
Caution us to study the subject
Before we question the birthplace
Christine Bolton