Picture Poetry Contest (...continued...)

[prendrelemick]

You did that!! That's a great picture.


Dreams of Trees

In the deepest part of the ancient wood,
Where beneath their twisted mossy boughs,
The trees hoard the darkness,
Never allowing a chink of it out into the light,
There, down in a deep valley,
Where no bird sings or squirrel stirs,
Where no green shoot has risen for a hundred years,
There sleeps the oldest tree,
Its knarled trunk and knotted roots,
Twist and groan,
As it dreams it's a seagull again.

[Pendragon]

Song For the Trees

The trees form a frame around the birds that are flying South
The frame of the forest gets thinner every day
The uncertain philosophy that doesn't quite save the trees
How will we ever replace them once they are gone away?

In the name of progress we keep destroying the forest
The birds fly away to a new place where there is food
Sometimes we just don't think of how many species go extinct
Our children may never know wildlife the way that they should

In the name of humanity, we must stop this insanity
The world doesn't just belong to us we must learn to share
But people will read this poem turn around and keep going on
The fact of the matter is most people don't care

So when we all choke on pollution, once we had a solution
The trees breath in CO2 and exhale oxygen for us to use
With the destruction of all the trees goes hope for humanity
Are we ever going to wake up or are we just ignorant fools?

Pendragon
(C) 7.5.2013

[Dark Muse]

Sky Window

We looked out the sky window
watching silhouettes of birds
flying beyond reach,
but still we stretched our arms
in the air as if we could touch their features,
in the end we locked fingers and our hands
flew together.

The trees towered above
making it feel as if we were ever falling,
dizzy with giddiness in our half-waking dreams,
we danced without ever leaving
our bed of nettles and leaves.

Here we were free
to roam vast landscapes,
we traversed the world together
locking arms we could rise up with the birds
which soared overhead while gently
we slumbered tangled
in one another.

[Melanie]

All these poems are sooo good!
And thank you prendrelemick...yes, I painted it and didn't like it at first, but it's growing on me.
I'm trying to loosen up more. Maybe I should try a margarita.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Melanie,
What is the deadline?
I'm piecing one together between work, emptying the cat box, grilling, etc.
btw- It's nice to see another painter in the house.

[Melanie]

Oh, thank you for the reminder, Gilliatt. I'll say:

deadline is July 20th...judging on the 21st.

[cacian]

blue skies
are blue
birds flying
through
mountains
and few
adorne grow
and brew
palaces of hue
pastels
and view
white skies
are true
purist is lured

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

(experiment in 10 syllables, but that is about as much "form" as I could eek out)

I awoke to abnormal light passing
through apertures unnatural in shape.
Hewn by the axe, their blows still resonate
off pillars in my forest cathedral.
Those darkening clouds portend a deluge
without pause to mingle with leaves above.
Torrents erode my primeval carpet,
sewn through eons with autumn’s fallen threads.
But John, now you can see a thousand stars.
Nothing as compared to the fire flies lights!
John, now you may enjoy flocks, clouds and blue.
Meadows give me that and butterflies too.
Hold fast to your ground my Aspens and Larch
and to the east you Ash and Chinquapin!
Let only a shimmering breeze shake you.
While the axe cuts holes in harvesting tracts,
preserve the virgin woods left in my name.

http://www.nps.gov/muwo/index.htm

[Melanie]

Wow, let me say to everyone that there isn't a mediocre poem in the bunch...they are all excellent! After I posted my painting, I thought "what an egotistical [expletive] I was to think that my painting would be inspirational to anyone but myself" and I began to doubt whether anyone would respond, but luckily you all are a talented and creative group that relentlessly rise to the challenge, as you all do so well...and I breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, it was quite an unexpected trip to receive attentive interpretations. I hadn't foreseen that perk and it was exhilarating. I'm so grateful.

YesNo...Your use of time comparisons of "a thousand years ago" to the present "trails that take us past their mysteries" was a delightful approach. I particularly liked the way your last two lines changed the perspective from "We watch them blending with the springtime air."...to "They watch us, too, perhaps with peaceful wonder." Very, very nice.

prendrelemick...that last line, "as it dreams it's a seagull again", is to die for!...although the word "again" confuses me a bit. No matter, I still like it. Your excellent imagery really pulled me into your poem with "beneath their twisted mossy boughs...trees hoard the darkness...there sleeps the oldest tree, it's gnarled trunk and knotted roots twist and groan". I could smell the moss, feel the trees, see the darkness, and hear the groaning of the tree in the silence....wow.

Pendragon...Love, love, love the title "Song for the Trees". You nailed the essence of the deforestation dilemma in such a poetic way that really grips the reader emotionally and exposes people's apathy and it's frightening aftermath. YES to your last line "are we ever going to wake up or are we just ignorant fools". We must listen to what the earth is telling us and use only Earth's resources that we absolutely need, and then recycle. Wonderful poem.

Dark Muse...The first stanza was my favorite. "...flying beyond reach" and "as if we could touch their features". At first, I read "features" as "feathers" and kind of liked that too. "We locked fingers and our hands flew together" was very beautiful imagery.

cacian..."purist is lured" is a great line and I loved "palaces of hue...pastels...and view". I came really close to understanding all of your poem and thoroughly enjoyed it. Your title pulled it all together quite nicely as I thought your focus on colors lent itself well to "canvas of nature". Great title.

Gilliatt Gurgle...the way you turned this into somewhat of a tribute to the late John Muir is brilliant. It was intriguing the way you tucked your "conversation" with him in the heavens, midway within Muir's narration . You have so many lovely, poetic lines like "primeval carpet sewn through eons with autumn's fallen threads" and "their blows still resonate off pillars in my forest cathedral". And then the way you present a warning issued by Muir, as if a father to his "children" (aka trees) to "hold fast to your ground my Aspen and Larch...let only a shimmering breeze shake you"...so endearing.

As you can see, this was the toughest judging yet but the winner is....Gilliatt Gurgle. John Muir's perspective was a nice touch and you had some great poetic lines.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

I am touched by your remarks and appreciate the effort in preparing them.
The ego needs bolstering now and then, in this instance, putting yourself “out there” by posting your own painting paid off.
I find the painting to be a nice composition, well executed, inspirational and worthy of the lines.

My “roof”, “pillars” and “cathedral” references were inspired from recent reading and image search on Chartres Cathedral, in preparation for the next B&F Thanksgiving piece. As I read about Gothic cathedrals in general, I was reminded how the architecture was inspired by the forests:

“The forest of the Gauls passed in turn into temples of our fathers, and our oak forest have thus preserved their sacred origins. These vaults incised with leaves, these socles that support the walls and end brusquely like broken tree trunks, the coolness of the vaults, the shadows of the Sanctuary, the dark aisles, the secret, passages, the low doors, all evokes in a Gothic church the labyrinth of the forests…” James Snyder Medieval Art – Painting, Sculpture, Architecture 4th-14th Century

Nice entries by all, it was enjoyable reading them.
Next, we have a photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson, a photographer I discovered at the Art Institute of Chicago about 3 years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Cartier-Bresson

Here is Aquila degli Abruzzi:



Deadline - Let's shoot for end of Saturday August 17th

[Pendragon]

Congrats, GG!

[prendrelemick]

That was one of your best yet GG.

[cacian]

great feedback Melanie thank you
and congratulations Gilliat it is indeed a great piece

[Pendragon]

ora pro nobis

The sign above the door reads "Pray for Us."
Every moment, every hour, every day
We have so much going on that we don't understand
Could you send me kind wishes, if you don't pray?
Nobody knows the troubles I've seen
Are words in a song that were just words to me
How the mighty have fallen! Sand castles fall down
I never thought of how cruel life can be
I don't ask for your money, your pity, your tears
Just a breath of encouragement, a word of hope
Lend me your prayers, warm wishes, uplifting words
Sometimes the smallest whisper is what helps me cope

[YesNo]

Black and white,
Lines and light
Curves to trap the eyes
Flowing down,
Through the town
Where the wonder lies.