Nature

Flowers’ Delight

lillian31 Comments

Place me amongst the flowers,
in the midst of petals glorious.

In my next life I shall be a bumble bee,
the queen, of course.

I shall meander regally
from one beautiful blossom to another –

savoring nature’s sweet nectar,
buzzing to my heart’s content.


Written for Quadrille Monday at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Today De asks us to include the word “place” in our poem of exactly 44 words, sans title.

Photos taken on Saturday, just outside the high-rise building we live in, in the heart of Boston.

Nature’s Balm

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Rainy season’s nourishment for the earth cleanses my soul.
Wet moisture brings life to spring flowers, relieves summer heat.
Cherry blossoms succumb to spring breeze. Rain gently on me.

 Day 28, NaPoWriMo. We’re asked to to try our hand “at writing a sijo. This is a traditional Korean verse form. A sijo has three lines of 14-16 syllables. The first line introduces the poem’s theme, the second discusses it, and the third line, which is divided into two sentences or clauses, ends the poem – usually with some kind of twist or surprise.”

Photo taken some years ago on a cruise to Japan. Cherry blossom season was beautiful….

The Rising Sun

lillian5 Comments

Rising sun
creates shimmering shine
on the ocean’s surface.
A lone gull floats
illuminated in sun’s path,
as waves softly lap the shore.

I sit alone during dawn’s arrival,
in awe of what is unfolding.  
Above me, the sky’s bluing
gains brightness.
I smile and sigh in contentment,
thankful for another day.

Written for NaPoWriMo day 26. The the prompt is to “write a poem that involves alliteration, consonance, and assonance. Alliteration is the repetition of a particular consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words. Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds elsewhere in multiple words, and assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds.”

Photo from some years back at our beloved Provincetown, on the very tip of Cape Cod. View as seen from our deck on the unit we rent every year for two glorious weeks in September.

Dune Shack Lady

lillian3 Comments

She prefers
the zone of morning twilight.
Eyes sensitive to cruelty
ears offended by malice,
she avoids humans.
Shoreline creatures know her well.
Gulls flock to her side.
Cormorants swim nearby.
Black and sleek
they duck beneath waves,
pop up farther down shore.

Her dune shack stands alone
away from prying eyes,
her choice since long ago.
She collects sea glass,
gems given up by the sea.
Handmade dream catchers
flutter in the breeze.
High tides, low tides,
her only sense of time.
Solitude gleaned at ocean’s shore,
the gift she treasures daily.

Written for day 4, NaPoWriMo. April is National Poetry Writing Month. The challenge is to write a poem every day in the month of April.

The prompt for today is to “write a poem in which you take your title or some language/ideas from The Strangest Things in the World.” I’ve chosen the line “the zone of morning twilight” which appears in the Introduction of the book. Photo was taken a number of years ago: a dune shack on Cape Cod’s National Seashore.

Explore with Care

lillian15 Comments

What tree is this
that stands so tall, so broad?
More than one century in age, I’m told.
It creeps, tangles thick across the earth
like some heathen’s diabolical tentacles.
If these be strangler roots
then what poor enraptured creatures lie beneath,
choked by weight and lack of light.
Fenced off as if to warn,
do not climb or come near.
Beware of danger,
capture or consumption
by multiple orgasmic trunks.
Solitary owl sits sentry, hidden within its leaves,
guarding who from what we do not know.
Gawk and wonder, but this be all,
lest you learn its secrets
or become one.

Written for Open Link Night at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Today/tonight Bjorn is hosting from Stockholm Sweden and invites us to post a poem of our choice, or a poem responding to an optional prompt he provides.

Photos are from yesterday’s walking tour of Balboa Park in San Diego. This tree is the largest tree in California. It’s a strangler fig, one of 900 species in the genus Ficus. It has a complex root system which includes large sculptural buttress roots growing above ground for support; smaller roots growing near the soil, providing oxygen and nutrients; and aerial roots which hang down from branches. I was just mesmerized by this tree and most especially its roots which really look like snakes or tentacles of living creatures… to me they could be something out of a horror show and seemed life-like! And yes, there was a solitary owl hiding within the leaves.

The Cold Wintry Thing

lillian4 Comments

The cold crept up.
It surprised us all.
Like a tiger hunting.
It caught us all.

It took us prisoner,
in its icy grasp.
It held us tight
in its frosty wrath.

From now till the shadow leaves
it will linger.
It’s beautiful and terrible.
The icy storm beast.

Yet once it’s past
we’ll wait for it again,
for we love it and hate it.
The cold wintry thing.

Written by my granddaughter, Phoebe Hallberg. She is twelve years old.
Image from Pixaby.com

Rain Walk

lillian9 Comments

Listen.
Tears fall like rain,
the soft spring rain
gentle, quiet 
cleansing the earth, the soul.

Rain begins like a tear
beading on a rose petal
trickling down to 
nourish the earth, one drop at a time.

Clouds thicken,
skies turn dark.
Rain falls harder
and the earth is saturated, muddy.

Drops become streams.
Overflowing banks. 
A flood of tears rises
to wash away our dreams.

Sun breaks through 
Two rainbows arc across the sky
Double surprise, double gift
Slowing the tears.

Summer rain smells fresh;
earth is nourished;
tears are pierced
by sunbeams.

Listen.
Rain will fall again:
On roses, on your parade, on Mondays.
Will you walk in it or just get wet?

Written by dear friend, Lindsey Ein, for Tuesday Poetics at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets. Today I’m hosting and asking people to take us on a walk within their poem.

Image by Goran Horvat from Pixabay

Nature’s Glory

lillian21 Comments

There are moments in life
standing in the glory of nature
when I’ve been awestruck.

Humbled by her magnificence
at the Grand Canyon,
Norwegian fjords,
and Mount Fuji.

And once,
under whispering tall pines,
I felt the sun’s rays of grace
shine upon me.


Written for Quadrille Monday at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Today De asks us to use the word “pine” or a form of the word, in our poem of exactly 44 words, sans title.

Yes, in our travels we’ve been to the magnificent Grand Canyon, the Norwegian Fjords, and to Japan where we saw Mount Fuji. Photo is from about ten years ago when we were camping with our children and their children, in Mount Rainier National Park.

Awaiting the Dawn

lillian47 Comments

I sit in darkness,
blanket-wrapped against damp chill.
Squawking gulls pierce my quiet,
spar over fish carcass washed ashore.
Dawn will present herself shortly,
streak sky angry crimson-orange
or smudge it gently in soft puffs of pastel pink.
How will she start my day?


Written for Quadrille Monday at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Today I’m hosting and ask writers to include the word “present” or a form of the word, in the body of their quadrille, a poem of exactly 44 words sans title.

Photo taken at dawn in Cape Cod’s Provincetown some years ago. We treasure our annual two-week visit to Ptown. I often wrap up in a blanket on the deck, in that chilly dark time before the sun rises, hold a coffee cup in my hands to stay warm, and watch the day dawn over the ocean.

Nature Song, by Lindsey Ein

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‘Tis early dawn and all around
no bird song floated down the hill
O Nature! All thy seasons please the eye
ring out wild bells to the wild sky.
Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright
between dark and daylight
a fragment of a rainbow bright.

Fair daffodils we weep to see
the violet loves a sunny bank
they grow in beauty side by side
into the sunshine.
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods
there through the long, long summer hours
the melancholy days are come.

Where, where are all the birds that sang?
The warm sun is failing.
Freshly the cool breath of the coming eve
in the west the weary day
electric essence permeates the air.
Yet one smile more departing distant sun
How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank.
There are moments in life that we never forget.

Written by Lindsey Ein and read aloud at OLN LIVE on Thursday, Sept. 19.

Every line of this poem is from a line in a poem by a poet. Here, line by line, are the poems and author:

Line 1: Flowers: Thomas Moses
Line 2: The River Path: Whittier
Line 3: The Seasons: Grahame
Line 4: Ring Out Wild Bells: Tennyson
Line 5: Vertue: George Herbert
Line 6: The Children’s Hour: Longfellow
Line 7: The Rainbow: J. Keble
Line 8: Daffodils: R. Herrick
Line 9: Proposal: Bayard Taylor
Line 10: The Graves of a Household: Mrs. Hemans
Line 11: The Rountain: James Russell Lowell
Line 12: Solitude: Byron
Line 13: June: Bryant
Line 14: The Death of Flowers: Brya
Line 15: A Hundred Years Ago: Anonymous
Line 16: Autumn: Shelley
Line 17: Healing of the Daughter of Jairus: Willis
Line 18: In Reverie: Harriet McEwen Kimball
Line 19: An Acrostic: F.A.
Line 20: November: Bryant
Line 21: From The Merchant of Venice: Shakespeare
Line 22: Remembrance: Percival

All of the above poems are from “Favorite Poems Illustrated”: 1880’s, given to my Aunt Josephine Brown in 1881.
Image from Pixabay.com