A bitter, numbing night
Of piercing winter frost,
Gives way to densest fog
At the first dawn light.
And what was frozen
Leaks into new life.
Icy whiteness drips
Onto iron-hard earth.
Diamonds of crystal light
Melt into essence, until
The new dawn wakes the world.
We should never despair.
Poem and Photo Copyright Englepip©
A sudden chill
And Autumn turns to winter
Overnight.
Leaves that have clung
Through Autumn gales
Now frozen on each bough
Cling tentatively
Before succumbing to the chill
And falling one by one
By one.
The freezing fog lies
Long into the day,
Mist throughout the
Forest rests
On bracken fronds beneath
Turning them ice-white frosty.
It is as though time has stopped
And nature has withdrawn
To think about its future,
Giving the world
A much needed
Breathing space.
Poem and photo copyright Englepip©
It hangs as a ball in an azure sky
Bobbing in an ocean of blue ether,
Buoyed on pink candy-floss clouds:
And as the sun sets on the darkening
Globe below, the all-seeing moon
Stares at the world which bore it,
And thinks that Mother Earth
Is burning like a sun, suffering
From the heat of its diurnal rival
And melting into barrenness
From the excesses of a deadly
Parasite: Man.
And if it could cry it would and
Drown the fires with tears of sorrow;
It would scream to eternity
Of life wasted and for its loss.
It would blow cooling breath
on the deserts and poles
And scratch out
The infestation,
Which is killing
Its mother.
Poem and photo copyright Englepip©
When I began to write this poem, I began to write about the beauty in the sky but my feelings about the raging fires in California; encroaching deserts and warming poles are so intense I began to personify the moon and feel its loss as though we are killing its mother.
The cloud creeps down the mountainside
Belly to the ground, as though sniffing its prey.
Nothing is sacred; nothing is safe
From the cold, damp fogginess of its intrusion,
Penetrating every crack and crevice;
A pervading darkness and dankness.
The warm air holds its breath, prescient
Of its obliteration, as it capitulates
To condensation and the first drizzle
Transpires as from the ground
Precipitating a cold and vicious,
Slapping rain, that soaks to the core.
For now, the cloud has won, but we shall
Look for the sun and the rainbow to come.
Poem and photo copyright Englepip©
You leave me hanging on
Waiting for a word of commitment,
Not to be found,
But encouraged by your smile
And flattering words I am still here.
You leave me in a limbo
Between emotional life and death
Feelings once blossoming
Subdued and dying back
With each Autumn day.
Caught by the power of your scent
And the addictive intimacy
Of your touch, I was blinded by
Your words of love: a sham.
Now I am held here,
Dangling from your branch
As a dead leaf which turns from green
To brown, until it flutters lifeless
To the ground of your winter.
Photo and words, copyright Englepip©
This poem is for the rhinos and in particular for the Northern White Rhino of which as of 19th March 2018 there are only two females remaining. In reality both are past breeding age, but I have tried to imagine that one is still small in this poem. The picture is of Southern White Rhino in captivity since so many are being poached out as you read.
Look at me Mum, look at me
Playing in the water with my pal, Jo
You said we were the last, just a moment ago
Females all in a world that’s so
Amazing that the Two Legs want it
All to themselves!
But look what they’ve given us
Water to drink and now a lovely friend, I think,
Who follows me around the waterhole
You know she is so very droll
She’s upside-down and topsy turvy
But don’t you think she’s rather curvy and so
Amazing
Maybe too amazing and the Two Legs will want her
All to themselves.
Mum, mum you keep on munching
The grass they left you for our lunching
But I really do want you to play
Daddy used to, but he’s gone away.
That night we heard the bangs and the groans,
Smelled the blood and the horrible diesel fumes,
Smelled the Two Legs’ sweaty, animal stench
Heard the babble and squeak of their horrid tones.
Dad was amazing – so amazing!
So smart and so handsome
You said that the Two Legs wanted him all for themselves.
You seem so sad since he’s been gone
And since we were captured and brought to this place.
I know you tell me that we seem safe
We’ve food and we’ve water all provided
But being alone is oh so boring.
Ålone, the last two of our kind on earth today
But we’ll be safe won’t we from the ones with guns?
Fed and watered in captivity
But unable to do normal activity.
Mum, tell me they won’t take you as well,
You’re precious to me and life would be hell
With just me – just me and me alone
And the Two Legs out there
Pretending to help when all they’ve done
Is kill and massacre ’til we’re alone
And they have won and taken the earth
And all it’s animals all for themselves,
With no thought for the future
Just war and destruction against….
All creatures that on earth do dwell
They’ll extinguish all, both great and small
Everyone, themselves as well.
Words and photo copyright to Englepip©
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