Friday, August 16, 2019

Trees and More

It's time to celebrate poetry.  Today's topic is trees if ya got one....and I remembered this one I have on my blog...so I'm reposting it.  Yesterday I just happened to take a picture of this tree in the schoolyard where my grandchildren were learning to ride their bikes. It is a spectacular oak - so huge!  What a great thing for a school playground.  Though it was hot and muggy, the tree's shade made it the perfect temperature and you could feel a breeze sitting beneath its sheltering boughs.



Poet Tree

 A
little
word
I wrote
one day
I really had
too much to say
I could not write it all
I was much too small but
then I learned about Haiku
so short and stout and then I
knew
that would do
so I wrote a little poem
that said more than it’s words
and from that grew a wish and need
to spread
my words like apple seeds and learn not
to rhyme all the time
one day my tree grew branches and I had more to say
so much more and so much
white space
so I
sneaked
in a
rhyme
just a peek
one wee
time
and
blossoms
came
and I
knew I had
to keep on
going
poetizing
and keep
on looking
at the world
through
realizing
eyes
rhyme
or no
rhyme
Donna JT Smith, 4-19-2013

I am still unpacking where we have moved - having moved more things (too many more) from Maine to Pennsylvania on my return trip.  Ginger's here, too, again.  I think she misses the big runs she could have with her friend, Spicy.  Our lot is small and public...so no more going out in a nightgown with messy hair (me not the dog), and she has to be on a leash...and I'm not running full tilt around the house five times with her.  Lots of changes.

Waiting

I think I'm hungry,
want to go out;
I'm waiting and waiting
with doggy-ish pout.
Why do you dress up?
Why brush your hair,
when you know that I need
to get out for fresh air?
City living's exciting,
small dogs call it grand;
But somedays I miss
running free on the land,
and standing stock still
as a coyote howls
or listening nights to
the hooting of owls.
The deer and the turkeys
dwelt in our hood
I barked at them all
as loud as I could.
I miss all the smells
of the geese in the flats
and the porch nesting phoebes
who tormented the cat.
In the city we have
rabbits, squirrels and skunks
all of them acting like
rodentia punks -
though we all know a skunk
is a Mephitidae
still a skunk is a punk
and I'm sorry to say
I got up too close to the
the tail end of one,
and man, that thing stunk 
like a son of a gun!
I promise to never 
sniff skunks again.
So if you would hurry
just tell me when -
for I'm ready to leave
 and sniff only ants,
on my way to the yard
to water the plants.

by Donna JT Smith, 8/16/2019

Enjoy more poetry today by following the links on Wondering and Wandering, by Christie Wyman, our Poetry Friday host today.




6 comments:

  1. Two wonderful poems. I live in a condo and Buster our dog has to go out on a leash. I don’t worry much of what I wear to take him out. I worry if someone else’s dog is out at the same time. So distracting.

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    Replies
    1. It is! And Ginger is so young and strong, she could pull me right over if I wasn't paying attention. I am getting her used to being on leash using a shock collar. Sounds harsh, but actually, she barely notices it most of the time. Thick hair and thick skin...I don't think it's a matter of thick-headed though! Lol! She has a mind of her own, but we are getting there.

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  2. Spread your words like apple seeds, Donna!
    "Spicy" is such a great name for a doggie friend. Sorry for Ginger's skunk encounter, but at least she's learned a thing or two.

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    Replies
    1. Spicy is my son's dog, so they've spent many days zooming around the yard together. You just need to stand out of the way...two rocket dogs large enough to upend anyone!

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  3. Between the picture and pooch poem, I'm feeling a little heartbroken for Ginger. Changes are hard on everyone, but I have no doubt she'll be resilient... just like her human. Thanks for reposting your tree poem, too. So clever how you "grew" that Poet Tree from a little haiku. :)

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    Replies
    1. I feel like we're cheating her out of the joy of running free. There's a leash law in Maine, but as long as she's on the property (she occasionally strays beyond) she's okay to run, and we had 5 acres. She's just learning to walk around with me now. I'm reticent to take her to a dog park. Don't know how she'd handle it.

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