Poetry Corner: Seeing the World Differently

POETRY CORNER

– 10/31/18

Hosted by Kathabela Wilson

At a time when conflicting feelings inspired by current events put seasonal activities in a different light, we are challenged to find solutions and understanding. Poets and artists are always on a quest to see world differently, to make a difference, and to apply art in a powerful way. Here, on October’s last day, we focus on the power we have to see things differently. We call up the simultaneous dichotomies, to question, to heal and embrace the harvest that comes at this time of year for the power of art and the good of us all.

~ Kathabela

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Holy Stump (Photo – Gary Wilson).

Garry Wilson

Holy Stump
A beautiful sunny fall hike in Squak mountain today. Out of the still forest a band of pileated woodpeckers were riffing on the cedar wood. Flowing from a holy stump onto the path were hundreds of black beetles that seemed to be line dancing toward the sound of their drums. Perhaps spirited away to behold new digs.

a beetle scuttles
from its holy stump
a distant drummer

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Tanka by Michael H. Lester. Photo by Carol Raisfeld.

Michael H. Lester

look up in the sky
and tell me what you see
do you see stars
do you see an infinite void
or do you see my love for you

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Daybreak by Christina Sng

Rachel Sutcliffe

fallen leaves
beneath my feet
in the graveyard
the memories I hold on to
and those I let go

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World Catcher by Christina Sng

Christina Sng

how I weep
for the leaves
fallen and dried
yet they return in spring
to live again

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Summer memories haiga by Pat Geyer

Pat Geyer

autumn moon…

tree spirits
masked by leaves

hidden
they harvest
the light

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summer memories
rise on faint morning mists . . .
tripping over a fence
we open
the gate to harvest

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Seeing the World Differently (Photo – Carol Raisfeld).

Carol Raisfeld

afternoon calm
the puppy unaware
of summer’s end

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Seeing the World Differently: Quotes and Credits

Garry Wilson lives on Squak Mountain in Washington, USA. He questions: “To what degree do we see objectively vs subjectively? We turn stars into heroes and villains. And What we know least we create with our projections. And love or kill in their name. Seeing a stump such as this he says “”I was struck by the rhythm of the woodpeckers drumming and the strange exodus of beetles from there holy land toward the sound of a distant drummer. It was symbolic of human diaspora migrating toward greener pastures. Drawn more by dreams than anything else. ”

Michael H. Lester, in Los Angeles, muses: “On a clear night, when the moon is full and the stars abundant, I wonder at the beauty of it all. In the morning, as I fight through traffic where super-sized plastic cups lie cracked and broken on the streets, I wish upon a star. How could humankind take such a beautiful thing as the Earth and plunder it and every living thing on it for sport and worse. I take comfort in the fact the Universe is infinite and the bulk of it unreachable by humankind.”

Rachel Sutcliffe lives in the UK. She says: “Simple seasonal changes can also be seen at a deeper level as lessons worth learning in life.”

Chrisitina Sng, in Singapore, says: “As I grow older, I am acutely aware of the stages in my life. Baby, child, teen, adult—in retrospect, all these swiftly passed by with little incident. But when I became a mother, it felt like I had completely transformed. The world changed in my eyes and it would never be the same again. Yet, I realize this is but another stage in my life and as the shifting seasons remind me, the next age of irreversible change is just up ahead.”

Pat Geyer lives in East Brunswick, New Jersey. She recounts this special experience: “I walk out my front. door & look to the left, what do I see… The spider started the web in October, in Autumn. Together, both spider and web are symbolic of fate, destiny and the crazy ways we cross paths in life’s diverse web. Upon thinking about it, I crazily want to hharvest this visual. it happens… a tanka comes to mind.

Carol Raisfeld muses on how deep changes, even powerful natural ones, such as the arrival of autumn can rise up, and catch us unaware. “Our puppy was transfixed by the small waves overturning. The beach crowds are gone. It is so tranquil now. The sound of seagulls and plovers strutting along the shore. Last days of summer in Atlantic Beach. The puppy unaware autumn has come.”

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♣ We welcome and encourage your response, especially in the form of a short poem, by leaving a comment below.