poems
by Haley Pope
As
if
before
life
As if before Life,
Stillness, impenetrable
Silence, sonorous
Shadows, infinite
Void of familiar sights and sounds
Time, before the birth of Dawn...
invisible
me
Because your eyes never see me there,
It’s almost as if you do not care
You take no heed to glance
Leaving sight of me to chance
Invisible, I sit in despair
Waving my limbs to you from the ground
Trying to draw your notice with sound
But nothing to avail, I’m
Beyond your scale for detail
Invisible, I wait to be found
THe
return
Eyes piercing through the trees – yellow as the sun
Catch a glimpse of black and orange – colors of a pelt
See the footprints jungle-bound – follow them, my boy
Man-eaters, hunters say
Can be quite a prize
We’ve got families to feed
Don’t care for their demise
Beneath the ethereal moon – ghosts of ageless times
Soaking up the radiant sun – regal kings of lore
Watch them play a vanishing act – cloaked in misty storms
They’re sacred, pujaris say
Survival is essential
For our health as well as theirs
Since we are all connected
Roaming through the darkened bush – triggering a flash
Cubs toddle close behind – frozen now in time
Start by being counted – become figures for the mind
Back from the brink, scientists say
Numbers have been growing
Used to be so few
But now 3,900
For the past 100 years
There’ve never been so many
Desires to keep them multiplying
Will keep their spirits living
and
nature
lived
In the beginning,
Nature spoke
And there was life...
Born again,
Like an infant, naked and perfect,
The fragile growth began
Of the fields, the forests, and the mountains.
Listen.
Listen to the songs of the birds, floating on the waves of the wind.
Watch.
Watch as time passes and ripens in front of your eyes.
Feel.
Feel the dampness of new grasses that graze your fingertips.
Smell.
Smell the clear, blue rain as it washes away the past year and prepares for the unknown of this one.
Breathe.
Breathe in the fresh greens and yellows of the new world;
The water that hangs in the air, replenishing your lungs.
See.
See Nature as it truly is: A sanctuary for your soul…
A place to absorb your worries, your fears
And cast them away with the passing of time,
Preparing you for a new life as well.
Because, in the beginning,
Nature was born
And Nature lived...
limited
aptitude
Drifting off to sleep as I lay furled
Reality slips away, and I
Appear in an unknown world
Aware of the form I embody
My eyes grow wider in fear, and I
Behold the vast world abruptly
Grasses tower like redwoods
Flowers ripple like sails
Shadows stretch far past perception
As inches grow into miles
The tempest tears through my hair
Sounds crash upon my ears
Raindrops threaten to drown me
As I fight to see through my tears
Crawling for cover as fast as I might
I duck below wet petals, before
Jerking awake in a fright
Mind reeling from such an ordeal
Reality flips around, and the
Fantasy becomes unreal
Wiping away the sweat from my brow
I’m relieved to be home now,
Recognizing my
Limited aptitude
For insect life