To David, Carolina, Maia, and their companions
In Guatemala on Earth Day
near Lake Atitlan,
my friends are planting trees.
The wind thanks them
for a new tool to make music; and
the birds thank them for welcome rest.
The sun thanks them. The work
will be better, tempered by shade.
The animals thank them likewise.
The Lake thanks them. The roots
will bind its banks. The branches
will spread, leafy, to shade the fish.
Rain, taken up into clouds,
will drip from the leaves, down
to refresh the earth and its plants.
The plants and the soil say their thanks too.
Only the people - except for a few - don't thank.
(Oh well, people. What do they know?)
Image by Vijay/ Creative Commons
Posted for Sanaa's Prompt Nights: Jour de la Terre
Trees are a magnificent.What a lovely poem!Beautifully simple but rich in meaning.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of people who do not like trees and destroy them for various reasons. Rosemary as a right doing witch you are obligated to cast a really bad spell on all of these people to stop them from continuing. Tsk..no excuses now, like I've lost my broom stick , cant find the right spell book,I only do good ones etc:)
I don't hex but I do bind! :-D
DeleteHow I love this poem, love the idea of the birds and wind and sun and animals thanking them.......wonderful that people are planting trees on Earth Day.
ReplyDeleteYes, I thought so! (Smile.)
DeletePeople can be such crap. I know, I know, whenever I think of how humanity treats our Mother, eloquence and patience fail me. What is wrong with people! *sigh*
ReplyDeleteI will close my eyes for a bit, think about the wonderful people who aren't blind or deaf or ill-mannered... the ones who know how to thank, I will think of them and of the music played by wind and branch, I will keep them clear in my head, and hope...
Ha...looks like Magaly will be closing her eyes to an entire nation...tsk the value of global travel and understanding cultural differences. Magaly, I would not dream of ever speaking to an American like this...As an Australian Rosemary recognises my comment as endearment. It's a way of saying I like you lets have a bit of the jolly and fun...Ill manners have different connotations for all cultures, ours included.
DeleteI thought Magaly was commenting on my poem, not on your comment.
Delete(I didn't take either remark amiss. But I do know that Aussie and 'Yank' humour often need translating to each other.)
DeleteSure do...!!!:)
DeleteOh Rosemary, this is absolutely stunning both in words and image :D love the idea of the wind, the sun with chirping sweet birds and animals showing appreciation for the planting of trees :D Beautifully penned. Thank you so much for participating at Prompt Nights.
ReplyDeleteLots of love,
Sanaa
I love the reversed perspective - i thinks some people know a lot and when the world works at its best it's all about give and take..from the ants to the elephants and the people planting trees..
ReplyDeleteThere is so much to be thankful for, sometimes in desperation of the earths treatment we forget, we can make it better for future generations xox
ReplyDeleteIt may be that we are doomed – but still, we can do whatever is possible in the here and now, and make a difference right where we are. And it will affect the future too, which is worth doing, however much future we have.
DeleteWish we could say the same about Australia. Two hundred years ago we had a pristine continent now we are destroying it and the seas around us.
ReplyDelete