Another Quote

“We have come to see ourselves as lords and masters of the Earth,
entitled to plunder her at will. The sickness evident in the soil,
in the water, in the air and in all forms of life are symptoms
that reflect the violence present in our hearts. We have forgotten
that we ourselves are dust of the Earth; that we breathe her air
and receive life from her waters.”

Pope Francis, 2015

Late Flush

The recent rains have brought
a late flush of summer green.
Parched earth replenished.
Mother Nature self-restores.

Relief

Cool and overcast,
after rain overnight.
The earth breathes a sigh
of relief, drinks thirstily
and pleads for more.

Spring Englyn

Snowdrops now their dainty heads show, green stems
extend through cloak of snow.
Signs of Spring; we watch them grow.

Following soon come tulips fair, and bold
gold daffodils bloom where
now the ground is dark and bare.

The seasons are changing, the sun returns
and warms the earth, to shun
Winter’s grip; her battle won.

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Whilst looking for something else on the Internet I came across the Englyn form. This is, I understand, an old Bardic poetic form and I thought it would be fun to try to write one. As you can see the form consists of  3-line stanzas. It is a syllable counting form with lines of 10, 6 and 7 syllables respectively. That’s the easy bit!

The rhyme pattern requires end rhymes of AAA. However, (and this is where it gets complicated) the end rhyme of the first line isn’t actually at the end; it can be one, two or three syllables in from the end and the sound of the syllables after the rhyming word are echoed at the beginning of the following line.

You will see I have cheated a bit here, my echoes are not exact, making use of near rhymes and slant rhymes – green stems/extend (Stanza 1),  returns/and warms (stanza 3) and missing out one element in stanza 2 – and bold/gold.

Spring Quotation

“Spring has returned. The Earth
is like a child that knows poems.”

Rainer Maria Rilke

After Rain

After rain on parched earth
calm, silent and humid day.
Where are the birds?
They have not come to the feeders.

Summer Days

How quickly summer days
retreat to memory.
While still the earth wears green,
no leaves yet turned,
the heavens mourn its passing
with frantic tears.

Suspended

Suspended…
by an invisible thread,
hanging…
in the air above my head,
a leaf freed from the tree
yet unable to fly,
nor yet to fall
to earth
to die.

Kenyan Proverb

“Treat the earth well…
It was not given to you by your parents,
it was lent to you by your children.”

Kenyan Proverb

Earth Mother

Life
and death
are her domain,
the great Earth Mother
goddess.

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This Elfje was inspired by a TV programme last night: ‘Divine Women: When God Was a Girl.’
It also appears today at Simply Elfje.