Friday 26 November 2010

A ticket for the Poetry Bus.

This week the task is set by Dana, whose blog is 'Bug's Eye View'. She has very kindly given us three options and I found the third one irresistible as I love trees. She asks us to write about winter trees. Here goes:

Leafless, but not lifeless.
Beauty is revealed in their nakedness
as they take a rest before Nature's cycle continues.

Sunlight dapples trunks and branches with shadows,
and frost and raindrops glitter like diamonds
on every twig.

Some are warmly cloaked in ivy,
others wear velvety moss or
close fitting sleeves of lichen.

The light changes throughout each day
to show them as golden and majestic
or sometimes stark and sombre.

Myriad branches and twigs form a fine mesh
which, from a distance, gives the appearance
of fine paper cut-outs silhoutted against the sky.

Best of all, is to see a full moon
rising behind this intricate pattern of lacey limbs.
Every season has it's glories.

15 comments:

The Bug said...

This is lovely Heather! I like the resting part - I'm usually so gloomy about the whole business, but this puts it in a better perspective.

Totalfeckineejit said...

You describe the beauty of winter wonderfully- Beauty is revealed in their nakednes'...

'close fitting sleeves of lichen'...

'frost and raindrops glitter like diamonds
on every twig.'...

Every season has it's glories, so does this poem!

Helen said...

Yes, yes ... nothing quite as lovely as a full moon rising through the trees! I enjoyed this, very much.

Val said...

You have a wonderful way with words Heather - your beautiful poem gave me goosebumps!

Peter Goulding said...

You give the trees a real sense of personality here - beautifully descriptive.

izzy said...

Definite glories! all the way-
really enjoyed this thanks!

Maggi said...

Lovely Heather. I really like the trees in winter when you can see their bones.

SouthLakesMom said...

Very nice! Although we sent our son out yesterday to strip the trees "warmly cloaked in ivy" yesterday of their cloaks! They're now naked, but no longer wrapped in an invasive species (our HOA is up in arms).

In my head I read this and I hear Richard Attenborough's hushed voice describing the internal processes going on while the trees are sleeping. just wait and listen for the sound of sap slowly creeping through tiny ventricles Ha ha

Jinksy said...

You paint a beautiful picture...

Enchanted Oak said...

Those "close-fitting sleeves of lichen" ought to be mandated reading in a metaphor class. I'm like the Bug, in that I see those skeletons of trees and feel sad, but you've reminded me that they only rest between explosions of leafy shade.

Linda Vincent said...

Fabulous poem Heather...such a brilliant opening line.

Lucy Westenra said...

Yes, it's a beautiful, almost literal picture.

MuseSwings said...

Very nice! I see you moon rising through the well wrought branches!

Anonymous said...

lovely word images - leafless is so not lifeless. I do love winter trees...

Cad said...

Every season has it's glories.

Even this snowy one!