The Buds of Life
On Nightly News I saw a sight obscene:
A seahorse in embrace with cotton bud,
Soon causing me to ask, ‘What does this mean?’
The answer came most clear, with numbing thud –
Our oceans have become a rubbish tip
For detritus abandoned in the flood
Descending deck by deck through Nature’s ship.
Now underneath the waters, óft unseen,
Resides a foul collection we let slip
Through accident, intention, acts between;
Of plastic bags, sour chemicals, Life’s crud;
Despoiling that which ought to stay pristine.
But if we stem the flow, seas will re-bud,
And creatures cling to beaut’ous things – Life’s blood.
Faces of Autumn
In turn leaves lower flushed and weary face,
Selecting perfect time and perfect place
To flutter way to ground as they must do
Now summer’s gone and stronger winds ensue;
Revealing in the process, limbs of trees,
Reminding us that Life with gentle ease
Attains its zenith, has no choice but run
Right back to where its journey had begun.
And having made their blanket light and soft,
Leaves rustle as the autumn breezes waft;
Making music though they sleep unknowing:
Through the sun, the rain, each gust come blowing.
Awaken though they must each morning new
As children take delight in wading through,
And dogs nudge underneath, nose down, tail up,
Reliving lost excitement as a pup.
And when last autumn days have run their course,
Leaves commenced decay with no recourse;
Reminisce the vibrancy of color
Compared to coming winter’s icy pallor.
David Watt is a writer from Canberra, the “Bush Capital” of Australia. He has contributed regularly to Collections of Poetry and Prose by Robin Barratt. When not working for IP (Intellectual Property) Australia, he finds time to appreciate the intrinsic beauty of traditional rhyming poetry.
David Sir, greetings!
Loved both of these poems – one that has truth and a message in it; the other is so beautiful that no words could explain its richness and splendour.
Always a great pleasure to read you.
Regards and best wishes
Thank you Satyananda. I appreciate your very kind words.
In Buds of Life, thanks for keeping the optimism of possible re-budding. Well done!
Thank you Carole. I much prefer an optimistic viewpoint, even if the issue is a daunting one.
Dear David, Thank you for ‘The Buds of Life’ which is such an importantly urgent theme requiring of the sentiment and guidance you contained in the poem. Equally, I enjoyed the reflections of ‘Faces of Autumn’.Many thanks for these. I see we are both friends and co-authors and contributors to Robin Barrett’ collections, and whom I hope to see again soon. Small world and best regards.
Hello David, we do have much in common, including a love of classical form poetry, and contributions to Robin Barrett’ collections. The reach of the internet brings many benefits, friendship and easy discussion among them. I am glad you appreciated my poems, each looking at Nature in a different way. Take care and best regards.