Poetree: "Petal Snow"

This is the view out my office window.

 

 

 

Seeing the bevy of white gave me an idea for some poetree.

In case you'd forgotten -- or are a new friend to this space -- while driving last fall I saw an interesting tree, one which reminded me of a skeleton hand reaching from the dirt to the sky. What a great poem that would be, I thought.

And so was born the concept of "poetree."

The idea was to start with an image of a tree, and then craft the verse around it, rather than vice versa. My first complete (picture + words) was "Fire." The next was "All In The Name Of Regress." "Skeleton Hands" is still in progress.

The collection now includes "Petal Snow." Enjoy.

Petal Snow

 

 

  



Waving naked in a wintry row, the sakura conceal their petal snow.
Clear, sweet milk to help them grow, the sakura nurture the petal snow.
When Nature says, “Commence the show,” the sakura explode with petal snow.
Despite the harsh March winds which blow, the sakura clutch their petal snow.
A bed of lush green grass below, the sakura prepare the petal snow.
And only when they decide to let go do the sakura shed their petal snow.

More Poetree: "All In The Name Of Regress"

I had a dickens of a time getting a photo I liked. The other day as I was taking the kids to day care, I passed under a series of wires, as I do every day. There was a morning fog with the sun filtering through. I think it would have made a spectacular pic. Why I didn't stop...I'll never know.

Of course, I suppose a misty morning will happen again, and I can get it then. But for now, this works.

All In The Name Of Regress

In 2003,
a tree
touched electricity,
and we
sat dumbly,
idly,
in antiquity
(no TV
or PCs)
for 43
hours.
We cowered
until the powers
that be
called the sawers
to cut the boughs
away from the towers.
Regrettably,
fait accompli.
But, what's one less squirrel bower
if we
can guarantee
that we
would never see
the delivery
of our energy
interrupted by something as unlikely,
anti-
technology,
and utterly
unnecessary
as a tree?

"Fire," My First Example Of "Poetree"

On Labor Day, my family and I visited the Geauga County Fair. On the way there--along Route 87 and incidentally almost across the road from where I went to summer camp--I saw an old, barkless tree. I thought it looked like a skeleton hand. As my mind ran over the image, I thought it would make a good poem. I thought about it a little more, and realized that having the picture, and then writing the poem, would be even better. I thought still more, and came up with a few other ideas for poems which just needed an appropriate tree, and I saw some trees which I thought would make a good poem. 

I still need to get a picture of the skeleton hands tree. I'm working on the poem. But I have several photos, and several poems, in progress.

But below is the first that have both image and words, together and completed.

Fire

The waning vestiges of summer sun
Pass fire to the leaves when autumn comes.
The longer rays give way to shorter days.
No longer sky, but Earth which seems ablaze.
In crimson, copper, auburn, orange, saffron
The palette of the summer sun lives on.

As always, comments are welcome.