UW Sustainability Courses

EARTH POEMS : Round 9

Canapés canopy,
Surrounding the sweet denseness,
Wet with rain, corrosive mud, feel free to free me,
I am tucked in to this frosted earth
Loamy sweet like powdered brown sugar,
Dessert tonight.

Aron Potash

Leaping cats
Jumping to higher plains
My thoughts spring with them

Evolution of man
Comes after evolution of
So many Others

We continue to evolve
Leaving behind a residue,
A sticky mess
Our sneakers get stuck in

Jump from this guck
Clean up the sky
Live by what's true

Think of all the Others
Who are here
NOT because of you

Jenny Hermans

Stepping out of my backdoor this morning
The breeze spritzed my face with cold water.
The parking lot behind my house had
Become a pond overnight, and leaves
Floated aimlessly in the dirty water.

Stepping out of my backdoor this morning
The gray air filled me with coldness.
The confidence within me had
Become a murky, sad mess, and hope
Crumpled aimlessly without you.

Annie Bomba

Yearning to see the sun
To experience the growth, the life
Among a sea of beauty
Yellow, red, orange
Each pedal gleams
As if pleading for attention
The gardener yells
And pulls the odd one out
The annoying, the frustrating
Never getting a chance to experience
What those that look beautiful get everyday without trying.

Julie Kaster

Last week, I made decorative bundles out of millet stalks.
I scattered the leftover seed into our front yard.
Today, the cat gazed wide-eyed from the window
at something in particular.
Bringing my head to hers,
I saw the tiny gray mouse devouring the delicate millet.
I empathized with both the cat and the mouse.
I longed to chase the mouse,
but I didn't let the cat out.
I thought she might not come back.

Enid Williams

Afternoon's early close on the sun's brief show,
Night's inky depths weigh,
Fatigue sets in, but dreams evade,
World sleeps, conscience leaps
Somewhere between fall and winter, I slumber.
Morning returns same gritty clouds.

Erin Lieg

I look up and see the stars
Falling from the heavens
Floating gently to the ground
Like diamonds
Landing on the blanket of down
That lies on the floor of the sky

Frustration
Frustration is my enemy and my ally,

I am a squirrel trying to get the last nut on the tree,
I am a deer foraging for food in the snow,

I am a tree which has boards nailed into it for a hunter,
I am a leaf burning in a campfire,

My head pounds like the heart of a running deer,
My muscles burn like a wildfire.

I am motivated to endure,
I am motivated to thrive under pressure,

Frustration is both disheartening and encouraging.

Cory Stinebrink

Who said do not talk?
Who said that I should not walk?
I cannot do what I please
I refuse to stroll at ease
While eyes are on me like a hawk;
Why am I restricted where I want to go?
What is holding me back that I do not know?
Internal conflicts are hard to see
Although they are preventing me
So maybe I’ll struggle to let my feelings show;
My self-consciousness holds me back
But somehow I like to deny this fact
What would the world even care
Without a girl with long brown hair
Who will not even acknowledge the self-esteem that she lacks

Helen Roiter

Charlie

As gray waves thrash upon shore disrupting aggregates
of sand and soil
Angry words were exchanged between us altering the
memories that I have of you
Unrelenting winds force branches to bend and break
Reminding me of your insecurities and harsh criticisms
that broke my soul
Like cold chills causing icy flakes to collect upon
scattered debris
Feelings of angst linger over the remnants of our
relationship leaving me unsettled
With time the storm subsides
With time our hearts will mend

Fran Cerami

Looking Through the Rectangle

Grazing alone
the old goat looks up curiously
Starving for companionship
it slowly moves towards me
Its rectangular irises look me over
The goat approaches me cautiously
Uncertain as to my intentions
it stretches to sniff my hand
Feeling my compassion
the goat allows my hand to touch its face
I gently run my fingers over its ears
The goat relishes my touch
Our fears about each other have vanished
No words need to be spoken
A relationship created through delicate gestures
I say to the goat, “I see what you see
I fear uncertainty too”
Suddenly my friend approaches me
She rests her hand on my shoulder
“Ready?”
“Yes”

Fran Cerami

A cold burst of wind
Caught me off guard
Making me lose my breath
And stagger my step.

It pierced my nose
Stung my cheeks
Filling my eyes
With tears.

My body froze.

Like hurtful words
That spill out of people's mouths
Unaware
Of the pain they cause inside.

They punch you in the stomach,
Make you lose your breath.
Difficult to swallow at first
And take much longer to digest.

Elizabeth Keller

In the early morning, you chirped quietly in my ear
like birds at the break of dawn
and showered warmth over my body
like the sun in the afternoon.
and like the colors of an evening sunset
sometimes you are too beautiful, i can't look away
(sometimes i dare not even blink).
in the afternoon you showered me with releaflets of droplets of joy
with every glance and every poke.
you remind me of autumn in new england
and every time i look out into the vista
i'm still excited to see the rainbow of trees.

Elissa Chasen

The changing of the season
A new beginning
A new life
Winter brings jy
And as I start a new life
In a new place
I look outside for guidance and hope.

Half-consumed by hungry Earth
Autumn twigs and leaves lie
In a forgotten pile

Half-consumed, but sealed
By frost’s embrace
The digestion of nature
Hit the pause button.

Lars Ecklund-Mitchell

You said you like the feel
Of life growing in a pot
Next to your bed,
On your desk,
On your windowsill.
Of breathing in the fresh air of
The green leaves you sustain with such care.
I say I like the feeling
Of watching you, watching life
Of being wrapped in your arms
In your bed, on your couch, anywhere
Of breathing in the fresh air of
Something so new as us.

Danielle Gould

Outside it’s dark, cold and lonely
Inside it feels like that sometimes too.
Outside the wind whips relentlessly through the bare trees
Inside it wrestles with my unprotected heart
Outside its silent
Inside, it’s that way too.

Angie Davis