Friday, March 6, 2015

Raw Nature--By Jean Calkins--United States

Raw Nature

This dry spring in the Davis Mountains,
what strange phenomena
burns only the ground covering,
leaving trees and even dead shrubs untouched?
Detoured by roadways and dry washes,
it crawls over the mountain ridges,
slowly, carefully,
devouring each blade of brown grass,
caressing tree trunks,
but choosing not to linger.
It avoids the isolated home,
selective destruction at work.
Smoke obscures the ridges,
blankets this valley, not that,
following its preordained path.
The fire seems to have intelligence
and knows, far better than I,
that this, too, shall pass.

Jean, at 82, has been writing poems since she was 18. For 25 years she published a popular poetry quarterly of up to 100 pages, with a subscribership of nearly 500. Illness in 1986 ended the magazine. She currently publishes, by email, a 2-page monthly of clean humor. Contact her at joker31277@yahoo.com

5 comments:

  1. Hello, Jean. I love your method of writing and how you define an intense moment in time and nature. Nature, so like people, can be unpredictable at times, and therefore uncontrollable at times, too. A very interesting word painting you paint here. Thank you for sharing! Sheri

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  2. Your images are true for the Alleghenies in PA and the Rockies in CO. It's not a pretty picture. You capture not only the visual image, but the emotion as well. Nice work. Thank you.

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  3. Hi Jean. Splendid poetry. I enjoyed it very much. Thank you for sharing and continued blessings!

    -MJ (www.tgbtgpublictions.com)

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  4. Jean, what a perfectly delightful and picturesque description of one of nature's phenomena. Thank you for sharing your talent with us here on Whispers.
    Charlene

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  5. How wonderful to have a chance to read your work. I can feel the textures, see the landscape. You've given me a chance to be in a place I've never been.

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