Tag: Nature

“A Glimpse of Spring” by Joan McNerney

moss-4015780_1920

shy blue morning
black trees etch sky

children skipping
over puddles

bramble on snow
soft birdsong

listening to water
race downstream

winds gently kiss
my forehead

grass shoots push
through first thaw

 

 

Bio:

Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in many literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Poet Warriors, Blueline, and Halcyon Days. Four Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Spectrum Publications have accepted her work. Her latest title, The Muse In Miniature, is available on Amazon.com and Cyberwit.net (the link is to the Amazon listing). She has four Best of the Net nominations.

 

© The Literary Librarian 2020

All photos public domain

“Water Path from Frog Pond to the Assabet” by Lynne Viti

Water Path from Frog Pond to the Assabet Image Creative Commons Wiki

Ignore the overturned canoe on the lawn.
Don’t linger studying the lily pads on the green pond today.
Focus instead on the water, on where it’s headed.

The highway thrums in the distance. Here, Queen Anne’s lace
sprouts from cracks in the cement embankment.

Walk around two metal chairs placed at a ten-foot distance from a third
as though a couple came for psychotherapy, then left
by a path through the woods. Do not take that path.

There’s another way from here, by water from the pond
into a lower level, a rill that leads somewhere you haven’t been,
through tall grasses, under a stone footbridge.

Let those souls driving on the Interstate keep driving towards something
they believe will make them whole again, revive them
bring them hope like the hope sung by the grasshopper sparrow
whose staccato notes follow you from pond to stream.

A lone cicada tunes up early for August’s insect orchestra.
Keep following the water path from farm to stream,
from stream to brook, on at last

to the grasslands where the sparrows breed,
where the dragon and damselflies dance above the river.

Old Frog Pond Farm Plein Air Anthology (2018)

 

Bio:
Lynne Viti, a senior lecturer emerita at Wellesley College, is the author of Baltimore Girls (2017) and The Glamorganshire Bible (2018 ) (Finishing Line Press), and the forthcoming Dancing at Lake Montebello (Apprentice House Press).

 

Read More by Lynne Viti at:

Lynne’s Blog

 

© The Literary Librarian 2020

All images public domain

“Existential Nature” by Jack M. Freedman

The poem is inspired by and dedicated to Willowbrook Park in Staten Island, NY. I am in love with all she has to offer. My friends and I call her Willow for short. This is one of the trees I’ve taken multiple images of over the span of five years.

Existential Nature Image copyright Jack Freedman 2020
© Photography by Jack M. Freedman 2020

You exist
as the catfish within
these growing ripples under the bridge

You exist
as the cold, fertile ground
where seeds germinate into laughter

You exist
as tall poison ivy
protecting our treasures in the trees

You exist
as bird calls in the wind
billowing and echoing our hymns

You exist
as deer eating clover
near baseball fields and forest clearings

You exist
as summer dragonflies
seeking guidance from a soaring kite

You exist
as lightning bugs at dusk
Illuminating the balmy air

You exist
as grape vines on the edge
of red berries and oyster mushrooms

You exist
as swamps among the oaks
where frogs inhabit trees and lilies

You exist
as every one of us
protecting nature inside and out

 

Bio:

Jack M. Freedman is a poet and spoken word artist from Staten Island, NY. Publications featuring his work span the globe. Countries include USA, Canada, UK, France, The Netherlands, Ukraine, India, Nigeria, Singapore, and Thailand. He is the author of the upcoming chapbook, …and the willow smiled (Cyberwit.net, 2019).

 

Find More by Jack at:

Facebook: @andthewillowsmiled

Twitter: @JacobMoses81

…and the willow smiled by Jacob Moses on Amazon

© The Literary Librarian 2020

“Silent History” by Gert W. Knop

image (1)
Near Toconao, Atacama, Chile (pencil drawing) by Gert W. Knop

Silent History

Bright clouds
let the lapis-lazuli coloured
sky shine.
And at afar,
mountains uncover their
innocent faces.
Sunrays immerse them
in golden colours
and feverish red.
Snow shelters the peaks
of the Cordillera
and the desert empties
its dust over lonely rocks.
The desert keeps its silent history
like a valuable treasure.
Words of a lost language
fade in the wind,
with the call of a condor

 

Author Bio:

Gert W. Knop – pseudonym André Steinbach – was born in 1943. He lives, since 2009, in Zittau/Saxony/Germany. He studied Grafic Arts at the Free Academy and Werkkunstschule Mannheim, Germany. He was a teacher of lithography, wood, and linocut at the “Academia de Bellas Artes of the Universidad del Norte,” in Antofagasta, Chile. He studied Tropical Agriculture in Germany and in Scotland (University of Edinburgh). Longer work stays in Israel, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and Chile. He writes poetry (German / English / Spanish), short stories, fairy tales, and plays.

Find Gert’s Writing at:

Wir, Die Indianer Der Mümling, under pseudonym André Steinbach, on Amazon (Limited Availability)

Der Juwelenvogel: Märchen aus Sri Lanka on Amazon

Tagträume / Daydreams / Sueños Diurnos: Liebesgedichte / Love Poems / Poemas de Amor on Amazon

20 Gedichte Deutsch/ Englisch/ Spanisch/ Polnisch und Tschechisch on E-Publi

Tante Bettys Teegartengeschichten Erzählungen und Märchenon E-Publi

Atacama – Im Großen Norden Geschichten, Gedichte, Drama mit Illustrationen on E-Publi

Bilder und Haiku on E-Publi

More information on: http://www.kulturwegweiser-ol.de/ (only in German)

 

© The Literary Librarian 2019

Artwork © Gert W. Knop 2019

“Wisteria” by Joan McNerney

Wisteria

Mysterious purple white wisteria
vines of flowery grapes gemmate
on branches wrapping tree trunks
wisteria enormous moonblooms delirious.

Wild mild wisteria wondrous
aromas falling idly from ferns
winding wandering through winds.

Wisteria purple white mysterious
lisping whispering softly luminous
as raindrops sparkle upon blossoms
enormous wisteria starlights delirious.

Author Bio:

Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Warriors with Wings, Blueline, and Halcyon Days.  Four Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Kind of A Hurricane Press Publications have accepted her work.  Her latest title is “Having Lunch with the Sky” and she has four Best of the Net nominations.

© The Literary Librarian 2019

All images public domain

“This Morning” by Joan McNerney

ladybug-1320563

This Morning

Between deep night
and soft dawn the
mist covers fields
spreading over daisies
climbing bunchberries
wetting seeds, leaves.

Milky smoke roams
back and forth
wandering voiceless
through mountains
of morning.

Whistling in fog
past sycamores
warblers seesaw
up cloudy layers
up up circling
toward heaven.

 

Author Bio:

Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Warriors with Wings, Blueline, and Halcyon Days.  Four Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Kind of A Hurricane Press Publications have accepted her work.  Her latest title is “Having Lunch with the Sky” and she has four Best of the Net nominations.

 

© The Literary Librarian 2019

“Imagine” by Joan McNerney

bird-2361184_1920

Imagine

Imagine to be a bird
slicing air with wings.

Up up over that horizon
soaring through clouds
away from solemn earth.

Shining, shimmering
far above this sphere
into clear blue light.

Cutting through sky
gliding over oceans
eyes open all seeing.

Awake all day all night
brushing rushing
against the four winds.

Imagine to be a bird.

 

Author Bio:

Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Warriors with Wings, Blueline, and Halcyon Days.  Four Bright Hills Press Anthologies, several Poppy Road Review Journals, and numerous Kind of A Hurricane Press Publications have accepted her work.  Her latest title is “Having Lunch with the Sky” and she has four Best of the Net nominations.

 

© The Literary Librarian 2019

“Outdoor Voices” by Mary Bone

Outdoor voices in trees,
bees buzzing,
birds singing,
in the great outdoors.
Owls are hooting
in the moonlight.
I join my voice with the frogs
who croak at night.
Coyotes howl
in the woods beyond.
Outdoor voices
are all around.

 

Background for this Poem:

This poem is based on the call of spring all around us. Everything around us is celebrating new life and the trees and flowers are so pretty to behold.

 

Author Bio:

Mary Bone CroppedMary Bone has been writing poetry and short stories since the age of twelve. She has written two books of poetry. A few of her poems can be found at https://www.bestpoetry.website/. Her poems have been published in magazines, journals, and other places.

 

© The Literary Librarian 2019