online today!socrates44 Poetry (156)

Life and a living being
can never be separated
See one
and you see the other
Destroy one
and you destroy the other
Pluck a flower from a tree
and dissect it
to understand it
You no longer have that flower
as it existed
on the tree
You may have an understanding
of the relationship
between the components
of a dead flower
but you will have forever lost
the totality of the experience
of the LIVING flower
To see the flower
in its completeness
BECOME THE FLOWER
and understand a reality
that can only be experienced
but can never be put into words
for the whole is more than
the sum of its parts

water chopped
into little pieces
appears solid
thrown on water
in normal state
pieces roll over
refuse to unite
with its source
for a while
finally gives in
forming a trough
of wave
which spreads out
until lost
then dies
leaving
calm stillness

Time moves on
as on this earth
men live and die
each day
Humanity wallows in wretchedness
Men steal, lie, kill
plunder one another
People deceive each other
There is no end
to pain, suffering, agony
Yet
in quiet moments
my mind reaches out
and makes contact
with some mysterious source
some cosmic awareness
which moves me strangely
I sense something
I cannot describe
but only feel
Who knows what secrets
are locked up
in this vast universe
or in the human mind?
What things have substance
and what have not?
What is Truth and Beauty?
Are they just empty words?
Or are they tied up somehow
with this strangeness
I feel?
Perhaps tomorrow
I will know
but meanwhile
I must continue
to feel
the things I feel
and to think
the thoughts I think
for wretched life or not
Life must go on

I sit here by the window
and watch quietly
as the train moves along
Outside
I see land -
wild beautiful land
still untouched by man
and it creates within me
a feeling of freedom
that is wild and boundless

The beautiful trees
in many places
so closely clustered together
though of mixed species
seem to cry out
a message of love and unity
to all mankind
I see flowers -
plain simple flowers
there is a beauty in them -
the beauty of simplicity

There are children on the hillsides -
the country folk
people call them
My heart sings as I watch
They know us not on the train
but yet they wave at us
and we wave back at them
because their action is filled
with some sentiment
that is pleasing to us

Shimmering little pools of water
pulsating with life
appear and then vanish
out of sight
but the picture of life
within them
remains with me

The cows and the horses
graze in the pastures
some sit
others browse slowly along
O how I envy their leisurely
pace of life!

There are moments
when a marvellous experience
leaps into mind
as though coming
from another world
The magic that calls it forth
is often so fleeting
as to be forgotten
in the joy of the experience itself -
it may be a skylark bursting into song
the plash of a wave
a flute played by moonlight
or the fateful drumming
or shrieking of a mountain storm
a lovely smile perhaps
or a single gesture
form or hue
of compelling beauty
a familiar scene
transformed by an unusual quality of light
a cluster of rocks
suggestive of beings imbued with life
or the spell may be wrought by
a sudden exaltation
the jerking of the mind
into an unknown dimension
a curtain hitherto unnoticed
is suddenly twitched aside
and for a timeless moment
there stands partially revealed
- a mystery

How can our friendship grow
As we are far apart
And letters are the only means
To commune with the heart

But yet it grows
I know not how
Even as I pen these words
I sense it growing now

Even when our lives are past
Our friendship yet will last
The world of beauty has no end
With someone like you as a friend

Peace!
The hush of night
fills the land.
Transfixed!
I listen to
the sounds of silence
where the mind plays tricks
upon feelings.
Mesmerised in this state
I question reality

I am standing by my window
looking outside at God's world.
Everything feels so gentle
and so beautiful.
The air is very cool
the sky is slightly overcast.
I think it will rain soon.

In times like these
I feel that Nature wants to talk to me
through the trees
the grass
even the stones
on the ground.
I just gaze at them quietly
and feel something from them
go deep into my soul.

Dandelions
sprinkled on the grass below
create a beautiful yellow polka dot pattern
which lights up the neighbour's backyard.
Birds jump happily from branch to branch
on a nearby tree
singing as they do so.
A gentle breeze rocks the branch
and they seem to enjoy it.

Some distance away
lining the street
I see the tall trees
which had been so bare
and almost lifeless during winter.
They look so pretty in their new dresses
with which spring has clothed them.
I can see them waving at me
as if they want to tell me something.
I wish I could turn into a tree
and talk to them.

Maybe they want to say how glad they are
to wear their lovely green frocks once more
after the long cold winter.
Should I ask them if they were afraid
they may have died of cold in the winter
I think they would say they were not
because they knew SHE would protect them.

Yes!
SHE protects them
just as SHE protects the little sparrow
for it is her world
- Her Beautiful World.

what new plant is this?
flowering bees this morning
and butterflies too


at the roadside
solitary flowering weed
vision of loveliness


look! in the garden
the poinsettia is bringing
its first Christmas


walk softly please
streetlights are making
diamonds in the snow


blown in with the wind
hummingbird nuzzles a bloom
and is blown away again


perched on the treetops
iguana closes its eyes
soaking in the sunshine


the new doorkeeper
of this deserted house
one mister spider


loud feathered thud
- flight into eternity
deceptive glass pane

May flowers grow in your footprints
May birds sing outside your window
May your smile warm a sunbeam
May the leaves sigh to you as they fall
May the wind caress your face as it blows
May the raindrops glitter to your touch

6am and falling rain
bed! how cosy you feel
this morning


wobbly legs misstep
toddler tumbles to the floor
screaming with fright


lonesome nightingale
serenades the airwaves
searching for his soul mate


mantis catches butterfly
I am very sad; yet, that is
the way of nature


motorcycle roars
penetrating the night
shattering the silence


on the waterfront
ocean liner calling her flock
- the loud blaring horn

Glassy-eyed people
moving as in a dream
looking without seeing
seeing without looking.
Lustreless eyes
tense faces
no inner joy.
Huge concrete boxes
close in everyone
stifling their souls.
Dried-up people
shut others out
shutting themselves in.