UW Sustainability Courses

EARTH POEMS : Round 7

Living entices me outside,
out of the warmth and safety of these stone walls
I can see the pines swaying with the wind
as though they are breathing
a lone pinecone dashes across the drive
I wonder, will it become a new generation?
Will it bear life in the earth?

Breathing in the smokey air from the fire,
I wonder what will survive
What will live through the desolation.
Will the next generation be enticed to forge ahead...
with monetary means
or will they look to the earth
their center

Bright yellow shells,
Carcasses of amphibious summer,
Now rest, ice-haloed,
On the deserted pier.

Once riders of the wind
Skimming over subconscious depths,
Sliding sprites in the joyous light
Over an unconceived darkness.

Now rest and dream,
Of autumn generations
Long forgotten
And of spring sailors still to come.

Lars Ecklund-Mitchell

Possum

My friend says, when you trap a possum,
feed it cereal for a week,
giggle-inducing sugary crap like Lucky Charms.
Then cook it.
Such a decadent delicacy.
I would not go to such lengths for a meal.

Enid Williams

Wondering why we are
Hiding in the dark
Unwilling to recognize
The world outside
Our blackish tunnels
Our selfish lives.

Alexandra Almenara

Morning's dark invites me to sleep a little longer,
Peeling back the blankets delivers a sharp blow of coldness to my tired body.
Peering out the window, I see no sign of day.
Surely it is not yet morning,
Surely there is more time to drift back to dreams.
Another shrill reminder from the alarm clock provides me with an order.
"Get up, get up you silly girl.
It's morning, it's Monday.
Time to be productive!"
But no, just yesterday it was calm and peaceful,
Nature seemed to understand my need for rest in these cool times.
How could she abandon me?
It is not time for school,
it is time for ambling forest paths, for collecting leaves,
for staring out my window with a mug of steamy chocolate.
"I can't do it," I announce to the alarm clock.
"It's no time for work today."
Emboldened by her power she barks at me again.
"No, sorry, it's time now; get out of that bed this instant!"
I sigh, I comply,
And roll out to face another 'productive' day.

Erin Lieg

The fierce nature of the rain,
As it pelted upon the earth,
Left a large puddle on the curb.

The ripples of the puddle interrupted
When a bike ripped through the middle of it
Causing ripples to become waves.

Feet
Like knives through the snow
Follow the leader
Step in
Step out
Fall down
Make and angel
Arms feathered
Cheeks glow
Oh how I love the snow

Apple Tree
On the surface it is sweet
Tiny and bold
Green and a hint of brown wrapped around
It is the first apple to grow on my Dad’s tree
I received an immediate phone call
“That’s great dad”
I have watched that tree grow for years now
Baking in the sun every summer
Puny branches
But finally it produced
A small, undeveloped crap apple
That my father is so very proud of.

Heather Roiter

PoeTREE
LEAVES impressions
WOODS spout from my pen
unTRUNKated thoughts
BRANCH out to hot topic tangents
ROOTS of meaning
PHOTOSYNTHESIZE my emotion

Paula Wild

At night my fingers travel.
They circle the nipples of my ex-lovers.
They braid the hair of my childhood friends,
and crochet a chain of sweetgrass between all the places I've lived.
After a long weary night they return to me,
with strange callouses and marks,
foreign soil beneath my fingernails.

Enid Williams

PLEASE RETURN

Friendships that transcend love
Love that endures
Emptiness filled
Time forgotten
Agelessness
The womb of sleep
To wake with a smile

To love
To lose
To begin again
And again
A rebirth
Who are you now?
Who were you then?
Life surrounds you
You catch a glimpse of it once in awhile
Beauty pores out of you
When you let it

Let it
Let go
Forget it
Let it go
Be free
Freedom is your beauty

A smile
They feel your soul
Liberate theirs
Only a smile
Only a touch
Only a tear

It is in there
Hidden under layers of dirt
Layers of skin
Layers of dust
Layers of mold
Layers of clouds

That unspoiled innocence
Running through the cornfield
Jumping over hay bails
Dancing in the driveway
A precious youth lost
Hidden
Afraid of critics
Afraid of friends
Afraid of loss
Lost again
And again

Please return

Fran Cerami

Bethany’s Insight

She looked into my soul at first glance
Her bulging blue eyes filled with tears
How did it happen?
You know…I explained it to her
Again tears filled her eyes
That is so tragic…I know you hide it,
I know you disguise the pain
You are beautiful
She is proud of you

Fran Cerami

Dip trip
Consumer case study
Flip
Over on your back
Brand new leopard-skin pill box hat
Only the best darling
Over the top the expensive kind
what does this have to do with sunrise
Out with the old in with the new (day)
Post consumer future
Futures of stock bonding us together
in absurdical nonsense
nonsensical absurdity
of uneccesary buying (and dying)

Paula Wild

Amidst the smokey haze
A faint glow appears
In the depths of your eyes
That reaches...
Reaches so far down
That it startles me.

I lose my breath
And look again
This time even deeper
To a place that seems so familiar
Something I know
Or knew at some point.

I have seen your soul.

Elizabeth Keller

Like tumbleweeds gathering speed,
The leaves roll down the path.
Frolicking like bewitching sprites,
They entice me to venture a little further down the way.
Following yellow, teasing, fool’s gold.
“Come with us, we know a nice little spot.
No time to leave us, we know you have a lot to do, but just stay with us a bit longer.”
Slyly they turn, they know all my weaknesses,
Appealing to my desires of freedom.
Perhaps we’ve met before upon this enchanted route.
I see I’ve come quite a ways down this little wooded walk.
It’s dusk and the sun’s guiding rays are growing fainter and fainter,
Still the twin pair of leaves taunt me and lead me a little further into their world.
Suddenly it’s night light and I realize I’ve wandered too far.
I know I’ve been hypnotized, captured by these oak leaves,
Yet I cannot leave.
I’ve traveled far from home and I’m set to wandering now.
The leaves wink at each other,
Knowing they’ve got me.
I will do their bidding,
For I’m powerless against their forces.

Erin Lieg

Happy colored marbles
Are not the ones you want to lose
I shoot the black ones first
And then the purple ones
But goddamn it if they’re going to get
My happy coloreds

Tyler George

They say its OK
But I don’t believe
A word that comes out of their mouths
My body has become
A living periodic table
A lab rat in a cage

My dirt is poisoned with arsenic
And there’s lead in my walls
I’m breathing in things you wouldn’t believe
The acid shoots down
Straight to my roots
And tainted blood runs through my veins
There should be a warning label on my fat
that reads
“May contain one or more of the following
pesticides”
But the list would be too long to name

That’s where the truth is at.

Kristin Halverson

Deep breaths against the beating
Of drums my heart thuds
And expands as a volcano of emotion
Explodes in my ears.
Yet I can do nothing – or choose
To drown in the fiery lava.
I can’t stop writing, can’t censor the
Words. The words that come out
Like gum drops on the streets discarded.
They take forever to decompose
- so who picks them up?
The man in the orange jumpsuit.
Who is He? Who is he? Who am I?
I am the beating of my heart.
I am these words.
I am living.
I am now.
I am breathing.
I am

And the flute plays.

Danielle Gould

Let me tell you what eludes the slaves,
The masses of people that work and trade.
What is beyond the Doors?
What happens when you break on through?
Maybe nothing , Heh, Heh, Heh,
Except … A Will to Power.

Daniel Axelbaum

You wake up on day and realize
This is not your beautiful earth
Not yours.
Never was.

Betsy Lawton