On a sunny day in February,
very sunny; blisteringly sunny;
and beneath the scorching rays of light-
rays of death to some poor life-
daffodils in February
played upon my senses…
I plucked them from the burning earth
burning fingers twirling stems
one hundred thirty degrees F
in the midday heat…
I wafted up the fragrant petals
before they charred and flamed away
my nose hair burned away long ago
smelling a rose in January…
but, ahhhhh! my withering daffodils
are withering but a moment sooner
then they would have in climes cooler
and I, and I will too go withering,
withering away eventually…
So, much the sweeter is our time
we spend together in this life
upon this planet overheated
a tad too much since we arrived;
and as I pause to ponder such
the wonders of the universe
a bee the size of a jumbo jet-
growing so in the tropical sweat-
spied me as a morsel’d lunch
and tried to carry me away…
I hid among the giant ants
betwixt their hairy abdomens
careful not to get too close
less I end up crushed, or worse-
impaled on their mandibles…
When all was clear I shimmied up
the stem of a towering sunflower
to see what I could see-
I saw the wonders of the world
amid the steamy jungle growth
that used to be Saskatchewan-
the dinosaurs had recently
returned from long and dormant sleeps,
pterodactyls ruled the sky
with seventeen-foot wings…
Man is just footnote now
in the story of the earth
dined upon by predators
the size of city busses;
but even though we still survive-
still important in our eyes-
the stars would beg to disagree…
Author notes
Drawing by Belemir Özgenal, age 8, attending Özel Baskent Primary School, Adana.
UNICEF Turkey 2005
In a list
- Current Affairs- A Few • next in list
- * Ryno • next in list
- Short List- Ever Changing With Time and Moods • next in list
- Plants and Flowers and Trees and Things- most • next in list
A contest entry
- image + ary = imagery. [1 day] by Ryno.
300 points, ended March 24, 2008, 11 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 7 of 7
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wow! Besides being a very enjoyable read full of great images, this also has the important under-lying message of what we are doing to our earth, our home.
Very well done!!! congrats on the well-deserved Gold!
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Holy Macerel!!!! You are too creative. I forgot what I was doing while reading this poem - I was too carried away in the abnormal and original piece with the fantastic message ...
Surely inspired me to take a second look at what we are doing to our world. Daffodils in February? Giant Bugs? 130 degrees Farenheit? Dinsaurs! It sounds like a little kids but with a grave, grave but important message.
I thought the imagery, being what I'm looking for primarily in this contest, was really well done too. You did a lot of describing, but you strayed not on adjectives and pronouns, instead letting me feeling like I was burning from the suns rays, or being attacked be the giant bees. Your imagery is also very absurd - but thats what makes us feel from in.
What an awesome write! Thanks for the entry!
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Nice!
I've always wanted to write poetry about my experiences in nature, but I can't for some reason. Maybe I'm too uptight about everything and need to lay back like you! Nature is awesome!
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thanks, elvis, but you wouldn't want THESE experiences in nature!
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You know, it isn't blatently poltical but it IS strangely political, haha. I really like this poem. Sometimes it's hard to believe in global warming when there's two feet of snow on the ground but it is a problem. A big, big problem.
Thanks for entering. -
Oh wow, giant bugs might scare me...normal size bugs are fine...but big bugs...don't know about them. Especially if they're going to eat me!
Haha, well this poem was fun. It reminds me in November that it was so warm that the dandelions were popping back up. I plucked one right from the ground, made a wish for snow, and blew the little seeds away...now we have way too much snow...
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I just read a new theory that for a half-a-billion years or so the earth was a complete ball of ice, when the continents were all grouped at the equator...
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