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silence of the night
| Open Poetry #43 |
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silence of the night |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia 
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I listen quietly to the silence of the night and wonder where have they gone? As a child, summer nights were filled with sounds of busy chirping crickets, boisterous frogs, 'buzzard-size-skeeters' hovering 'round the ears that sounded much like those planes in old WW movies about to unload their deadly payload. Where have they gone? Look under your sink or in your closet. Read the labels on all those bug sprays, toxic cleaning compounds, those make-my-life-easier products, and part of the answer will be all too obvious. The concept 'Live and let live' applies to all of life. |
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| © Copyright 2008 Kathleen Kacy Stafford - All Rights Reserved | |||
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kaile
since 2000-02-06
Posts 5146singapore |
LOL at the comparison made to WWII planes. who would have thought? |
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Prasad Nataraj Senior Member
since 2008-05-29
Posts 1149Bangalore,India |
Hi Midnitesun, I live in a place that is quiet far away from the actual city, I am happy I live here, I can listen to the crickets, frogs, bats etc…and they keep me awake all night sometimes, I pity the people who live in the city. Your poem reminds me of my friends in the city, they miss such simple joy nature brings… I don’t have bug sprays listed in my monthly budget… Enjoyed this poem. let me check the list once again… Prasad  |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
LOL, thanks for reading, kaile. Sometimes that's what they sound like! I understand we need 'protection' from West Nile virus and things like malaria, but don't need to kill every flying thing in sight! Prasad, you are indeed, the lucky one in my humble opinion, to stay awake, or fall asleep, to the sounds of nature! **Thank you for not poisoning Gaia. |
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OwlSA Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347Durban, South Africa |
Enjoyed your poem, Kacy. Like Prasad, I, too, am lucky, to hear night sounds in my indigenous forest garden, sometimes, though, not always. - Owl |
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Marchmadness Member Rara Avis
since 2007-09-16
Posts 9271So. El Monte, California |
I miss some of those things too, Kacy. It seems that many people find nature annoying and are ready to get whatever find inconvenient. Ida |
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Artic Wind Member Rara Avis
since 2007-09-16
Posts 8080Realm of Supernatural |
I ENJOYED!!!! A lot Midnitesun...  ARCTIC WIND |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
Owl, Ida, Arctic...thank you for your comments! The missing frog sounds are ominous. I do have a resident toad who hides behind my potted plants and rocks, but I was hoping to see and hear frogs by the local pond or river. I can't say I miss the mosquitoes though. We've had very few this summer, even living close to a river. |
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ArtSolstice Member
since 2007-03-18
Posts 498 |
Fine words here, Midnitesun! |
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Ericc Member Elite
since 2003-01-31
Posts 4178 |
Excellent write! Eric |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
Thank you ArtSolstice and Eric! Stay tuned for the next 'silent night' episode. LOL, it will be the flip-side of this, entitled 'Cicada Serenade.' |
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serenity blaze Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738 |
moan.......y'little "tease" you! I miss those too! Down here in swampland, and here's what I don't understand--we have trucks piping pesticides into our air, about three times a week. Why do they seem to kill everything but the mosquitoes and termites?  (Maybe it just seems that way...but man.) Again, you bring back the fond memories of "lightnin' bug lanterns" and other childhood joys I'd thought I'd forgotten. Come to think of it--I haven't seen a "Sphinx Moth" in a very long time either....pout. (Now those are cool, they fly like hummingbirds--little helicopters, yanno?) Namaste' Kacy. I'll shaddup now. Y'keep the ink sacred.  |
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Spuddette Member
since 2008-07-03
Posts 112England |
Very nostalgic and thought provoking. thank you. xx janet xx |
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serenity blaze Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738 |
I forgot somethin'. (I wouldn't be me if I didn't.) But if you haven't seen this, check out what Karen the cave coveter found in her Yahoo news today: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080724/ap_on_sc/exploring_snowy_river;_ylt=Al2yGPL.ZTicdItT2y59OGJsaMYA Y'don't suppose they'd let me have that one, eh? *drools* Check out the slide show--can you imagine that place lit by candlelight? |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
Thanks for the link, Karen. What a cool place! I'm actually glad they've closed it off to all but bonafide researchers, or you'd have people down there chipping away at that stuff and scraping ancient microbes off the walls. Hmm, wonder if JM knows what happened to your Sphinx moth population? |
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XOx Uriah xOX Senior Member
since 2006-02-11
Posts 1403Virginia |
No need to drop napalm when a fly swatter will do. I love listening to all the tree frogs and bullfrogs at night. My ears cannot hear crickets anymore. Too much loud music and gun fire in my youth ::shrugs:: or current ear wax. A very ancient looking tree frog has taken up residence in one of our bird houses. Each evening he sits on the edge of the entry hole, with his eyes half closed, looking very much like Yoda. I think there is a tick entrapped by my thigh. I must go set him free. ::smiles:: enjoyed |
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vandana
since 1999-10-22
Posts 10463USA |
good read |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
Thanks, Vandana. Uriah!  so it's free-the-ticks-time now? Aren't ticks the original Red Cross nurses?! I'd love to see a photo of that Yoda! |
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Alison
since 2008-01-27
Posts 9318Lumpy oatmeal makes me crazy! |
I was camping in Colorado once and the crickets were so loud at night that I couldn't sleep! They drove me nuts - at first, I thought they were frogs. I had never heard crickets before. Little buggers are loud!!! A |
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Margherita Member Seraphic
since 2003-02-08
Posts 22236Eternity |
Thank you dear Kacy for this very appropriate lament. Though I am a favorite victim of mosquitos, I hate it that we can't fight them with less destructive products. I was so happy recently when I heard a cricket! Yes it was only one in the many trees around here. I welcomed her in my heart.... then they came to spray the poison meant for the mosquitos and that single voice died too ... Summer and crickets went together, I loved that tune ... Love, Margherita |
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poddarku Senior Member
since 2008-01-15
Posts 589india |
very touching. it syrikes the chord of nostalgia in a reader |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
Alison, Margherita, kushal, thank you for reading and caring about the little critters. |
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Robert E. Jordan Member Rara Avis
since 2008-01-25
Posts 8541Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Yo Midnitesun, Sorry Hon, I can’t go with you on this trip. It’s a constant war between us and them. If you had ever met a kid really sick with malaria, perhaps you wouldn’t be so hot on mosquitoes. The only good mosquitoe is a dead mosquitoe. Bobby |
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Gentle Spirit Member Patricius
since 2000-10-09
Posts 13989 |
Kacy, the messages that you always layer within your words are timeless truths.. I've so missed reading you hon. A pleasure to read this tonight. Hugs ~D |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
Bobby, LOL, I'm not starting a save-the-skeeter campaign specifically, just your basic "Stop-killing-everything-on-Gaia" approach. Donna, thank you hon, so happy to have a visit from you, gentle lady!! |
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