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Open Poetry #28
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Elizabeth Santos
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-11-08
Posts 9269
Pennsylvania

0 posted 2003-08-14 08:51 AM



If Trees Could Speak

Oh forest, if your trees could speak
The secrets you withhold
In naked winter, cold and bleak
What splendors would unfold!

The seasons of a thousand years
Contained in ageless rocks
Are footsteps of the bear and deer
Etched in your music box

Your bark protects the song within
The whispering of a breeze
That sweeps the leaf and needled limb
Of fir and poplar trees

Your bare and icy branch would strum
A melody serene
Of waving fern and buzzing hum  
Beneath the summer green

Of fallen timber, hollowed out
Refrains of death and birth
Of fawn and cub and sapling sprout
And seedlings of the earth

The crackling of the autumn shrub
The strains of meadow lark
The honing scuff of antler’s rub
Against an aging bark

The sounds unheard by human ear
Are music’s finest hymns
Plucked on your harp strings, soft and clear
And carried by the winds

The trees would sing the tears I’ve wept
While stumbling weak and frail
Beside me, Jesus’ silent step
Along this wooded trail

Elizabeth Santos

[This message has been edited by Elizabeth Santos (08-14-2003 08:53 AM).]

© Copyright 2003 Elizabeth Santos - All Rights Reserved
Kethry
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-07-29
Posts 9082
Victoria Australia
1 posted 2003-08-14 08:57 AM


Elizabeth this is lovely, it made me cry.
Kethry

Here in the midst of my lonely abyss, a single joy I find...your presence in my mind.  Unknown



Rick
Member Elite
since 2001-06-21
Posts 2903
Victoria, Australia
2 posted 2003-08-14 09:32 AM


Liz, this was wonderful and a pleasure to read, thank you for sharing this with me tonight.

Sincerely
Rick

Marge Tindal
Deputy Moderator 5 ToursDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384
Florida's Foreverly Shores
3 posted 2003-08-14 09:35 AM


LovelyLizzyLady~
I believe the trees have spoken through your exquisite inking~
*Huglets*
~*Marge*~

~*The pen of the poet never runs out of ink, as long as we breathe.*~
noles1@totcon.com

Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
4 posted 2003-08-14 10:20 AM


I? put 110% into a poem?

Then you must give 200%...and the smiles
on the childrens' faces proves it!

What a lovely, lovely photo, Elizabeth.  You look SO happy!!!

Nightshade
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Member Patricius
since 2001-08-31
Posts 13962
just out of reach
5 posted 2003-08-14 10:23 AM


Elizabeth, I cannot begin to tell you how much I love this write. I will just say that it is going directly into my library. Wow. hugs to you and those beautiful grandchildren!!   Chris

"Hope" is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul ~
            Emily Dickinson




    

suthern
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Seraphic
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723
Louisiana
6 posted 2003-08-14 10:57 AM


So very lovely... every line. *S*
Earth Angel
Member Empyrean
since 2002-08-27
Posts 40215
Realms of Light
7 posted 2003-08-14 11:53 AM


Liz, you just gave the trees a voice and they spoke to my very soul...

God bless you, Dear One,
Linda xo


MoniDaPoet
Member
since 2003-08-14
Posts 73
California, USA
8 posted 2003-08-14 12:06 PM


I have to agree. You have a purely beautiful way of writing. I hope your beautiful children realize how blessed they are to have a mother and writer like you. Bravo, Bravo, Bravo!

I have only my genius to declare!

[This message has been edited by MoniDaPoet (08-14-2003 03:49 PM).]

MARK V SHELDON
Member Elite
since 2001-06-21
Posts 3015
In a corporeal internship...
9 posted 2003-08-14 12:26 PM


An aesthetic homage to a form of life so under-appreciated, exploited, and abused.  Kudos to you.

-MVS

You CAN make a difference:
http://educate-yourself.org/

Mysteria
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Member Laureate
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328
British Columbia, Canada
10 posted 2003-08-14 01:57 PM


Liz - trees as you know are my favorite living thing, and here is our pride and joy in Vancouver.  This is a 2,000 year old, 65 foot around tree, that in 1925 was burned from one side, to make room for parking, and it is now hollowed out and a real tourist attraction in our Stanley Park, and never let it be said I miss an opportunity to attract tourists, here also is a link to tell about this tree, and our wonderful park.

Lady, can you imagine if they all decided to whisper in unison one night the stories they have heard, or the sights seen, we would all be deaf! I know I have many a story from under a tree    
     
And here is the link to tell its story too. http://www.geocities.com/yosemite/7427/bigtree2.html

[This message has been edited by Mysteria (08-14-2003 01:59 PM).]

passing shadows
Member Empyrean
since 1999-08-26
Posts 45577
displaced
11 posted 2003-08-14 02:42 PM


that's awesome!

I'm envious...wishing I could write like that!

Robert Frazier
Senior Member
since 2003-02-06
Posts 1014

12 posted 2003-08-14 03:05 PM


This is moving, beautiful and deep...as the woods you write.  

Rf

Elizabeth Santos
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-11-08
Posts 9269
Pennsylvania
13 posted 2003-08-15 05:35 AM


Thank you, each and every one for reading and commenting on this poem, and Mysteria, for that wonderful photograph. Those old trees really do speak to us about the past. THanks dear, for your input.
Best wishes to all
Liz

Nan
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-20
Posts 21191
Cape Cod Massachusetts USA
14 posted 2003-08-15 07:55 AM


They do hold many a secret, don't they?.. This is wonderful, Lizzy... Simply wonderful...
Corinne
Member Ascendant
since 1999-10-28
Posts 5167
state of confusion
15 posted 2003-08-15 11:28 AM


Elizabeth - this is an uplifting, spiritual piece, I love it!

Love that pic with your grandkids, too!


Cor

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