Cycles

“Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth.” Herman Hesse

 

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Driftwood at Red Bank Battlefield, National Park, NJ.©️Merril D. Smith 2020

 

Midnight owl shadows

rodent in sharp talons—

seed drops on damp ground

 

seed becomes tree

roots link to other roots—

earth secrets shared

 

treetop flutters

crow warns of hawk–

black wings cross the sky

 

charcoal clouds

wind whipped waves–

the snap of a branch

 

branch drifts

time and tide-bleached

rests on riverbank

 

green boughs

lean to kiss the water clouds–

whispers, seeds fall

 

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Reflections on Delaware River, West Deptford, NJ ©️Merril D. Smith 2020

Frank has asked us to write a haiku sequence for dVerse. I think haiku are really difficult to write. I’m not sure if this works.  I’m also linking this to Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday prompt, using the Herman Hesse quote above as a theme.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

72 thoughts on “Cycles

  1. Such a beautiful story explicated in the haiku sequence. This totally works! You wrote this very evocatively to nature. You also include a lot of depth to nature’s cycle and how things come to be the way they are (like with the piece of driftwood). Beautifully written with elegance. Great write!

  2. kaykuala

    Discovery of the likable connection as expounded through nature’s rights of little animals and their hunting grounds. Great sequential way of progress Merril.

    Hank

  3. I love the inspirational quote from Hesse, one of my favourites, I’ve had his book on trees in German for most of my life and refer to it often. I also love the way the cycle starts with an owl and a seed. My favourite lines:
    ‘roots link to other roots—
    earth secrets shared’.

    • Thank you, Kim. I’m fascinated by the studies done on trees communicating and helping each other, and the vast underground network of roots. The Hesse quote was the prompt given for Colleen’s challenge.

  4. Lovely. The last lines of the haiku form a poem, as well.

    seed drops on damp ground
    earth secrets shared
    black wings cross the sky
    the snap of a branch
    rests on riverbank
    whispers, seeds fall

  5. Quiet, ageless cycles in natural world so beautifully captured in your words and photos! I admire the progression linking your series together, Merril.

  6. Pingback: Weekly Poetry Challenge Stars | Theme Prompt #188 | Word Craft ~ Prose & Poetry

  7. I loved the line, “green boughs lean to kiss the water clouds-” It is a beautiful image to contemplate. I love driftwood and it always makes you wonder. In the Outer Banks in North Carolina, there is lots of wood from shipwrecked boats… The sea has so many stories to tell.

    • Thank you very much. I walk by the Delaware River often, and I have a bit of an obsession with reflections. 😏 I imagine the Outer Banks with its history of ship wrecks–and history in general–would have lots of secrets.

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