Today's poet

[freckle]

more on the theme of trees from my main man.......should have saved it for dec but couldn't resist.....

little tree
little silent Christmas tree
you are so little
you are more like a flower

who found you in the green forest
and were you very sorry to come away?
see i will comfort you
because you smell so sweetly

i will kiss your cool bark
and hug you safe and tight
just as your mother would,
only don't be afraid

look the spangles
that sleep all the year in a dark box
dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine,
the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads,

put up your little arms
and i'll give them all to you to hold
every finger shall have its ring
and there won't a single place dark or unhappy

then when you're quite dressed
you'll stand in the window for everyone to see
and how they'll stare!
oh but you'll be very proud

and my little sister and i will take hands
and looking up at our beautiful tree
we'll dance and sing
"Noel Noel"

-- E. E. Cummings

[Hes]

The wind holds its breath
To let the Oak inhale the final
Goodness from its leaf
Abandoning the rusty to their fate

This is lovely HHH. Just right for today. I am noticing an oak theme emerging and I'm going to add to it with a couple from this afternoon's training run:

through still grey halflight
ghostly oaks from mist appear
in damp filigree

footfalls break silence
startled pheasant startles me
and we both take flight

[Hes]

Hey Freckle, liked your choice tonight. Have you read 'Trees be company'? it is an anthology of poetry about trees and woodlands collated by Common Ground. They've also published two more called 'Field Days' and 'The River's Voice'. Well worth checking out.

[Harry H Howgill]

footfalls break silence
startled pheasant startles me
and we both take flight

A lovely image Hes

[Harry H Howgill]

A definition
of a tree: a plant with a
stick up the middle

[freckle]

Hey Freckle, liked your choice tonight. Have you read 'Trees be company'? it is an anthology of poetry about trees and woodlands collated by Common Ground. They've also published two more called 'Field Days' and 'The River's Voice'. Well worth checking out.

thanks hes sounds cool....love your haiku tonight you are a natural!

[Harry H Howgill]

Hey Freckle, liked your choice tonight. Have you read 'Trees be company'? it is an anthology of poetry about trees and woodlands collated by Common Ground. They've also published two more called 'Field Days' and 'The River's Voice'. Well worth checking out.

I've just read Colin Tudge's "The secret life of trees", and "Out of the Woods" by Will Cohu. You'll never come across two more enthusiastic guys on their subjects.

I'm rubbish still though. I can't recognise more than a few.

[Hes]

I've just read Colin Tudge's "The secret life of trees", and "Out of the Woods" by Will Cohu. You'll never come across two more enthusiastic guys on their subjects.

I'm rubbish still though. I can't recognise more than a few.

Those books sound good and you can't beat enthusiasm, I reckon. The Secret Life of Trees is already on my wishlist. I've been very lucky in that my mum is a doctor of zoology and an ecologist and my ex was an arboriculturist so I'm not bad on plant and tree identification but as the taoists say...you don't need to name things to appreciate them (ok that isn't exactly how they put it but you catch my drift).

[XRunner]

Have you read THAT poem by Auden.

(Blame Freckle if you think its rude

Here is a more appropiate poem by W.H.Auden:

The Runner:

All visible visibly
Moving things
Spin or swing,
One of the two,
Move, as the limbs
Of a runner do,
To and fro,
Forward and back,
Or, as they swiftly
Carry him
In orbit go
Round an endless track:
So, everywhere, every
Creature disporting
Itself according
To the law of its making
In the rivals' dance
Of a balanced pair
Or the ring-dance
Round a common centre,
Delights the eye
By its symmetry
As it changes place
Blessing the unchangeable
Absolute rest
Of the space all share
The camera's eye
Does not lie
But it cannot show
The life within,
The life of a runner,
Of yours or mine,
That race which is neither
Fast nor slow,
For nothing can ever
Happen twice,
That story which moves
Like music when
Begotten notes
New notes beget
Making the flowing
Of time a growing
Till what it could be
At last it is,
Where Fate is Freedom,
Grace, and Surprise.

[Hes]

Don't worry OW, kit's packed

Bon Voyage DT. Hope you have a brilliant time in China (where abouts are you going?). Your morning haikus will be missed but I reckon you'll come back with some stunning ones.

Safe travels.