Poems in appreciation of beauty, my observation of human nature and our interaction with the environment.
Wind blowing ‘round my ears
Cold knocking at my door
Old man winter in a vengeful mood
Burns alike for rich and poor
Snow in every bank and crevice
Air thick with crystal ice
Snow melt from eves and gutters
In glist’ning stalactites
The winter lord, even so,
Cannot stop the dreams of spring,
Nor the golden light of June,
Nor the soul to sing
©2018
Dare we stand to speak the truth
In a world oppressed with fear?
Dare we fight, expose the lies,
And stand for those who do?
Dare we, fearless, foster beauty?
In kindness stand for truth?
Two Howling mixed media painting
© 2015
A shaft of light beamed down
Through sheets of tropical rain
Glowed in outstretched palms
Fraught with lingering pain.
As rains fell in a fury
Like tears in a flood of rage
The elder stood sore and weary
At the sight of what he surveyed.
Deluged by memories of Eden
Lost in the endless brigade
To cull the jungle for profit
As if a penny arcade,
Where rainbow colored tears
From one armed bandits stray
Oil streaming from virgin lands
Beauty, blessed, betrayed.
Vanished in the slaughter
Countless bounties to be mourned;
The groves of El Dorado
Now dying and forlorn.
Standing in solemn reverence
As rains came to a halt,
He held his gaze ahead
In the steam of this jungle vault.
Witnessing, at dusk, a warning,
As ghostly remnants remained,
Poised in silent testament
Where giants of Earth once reigned
©2002/2019/2021
I knew a man who would not lie.
He would not say a thing untrue
And if one swayed him to reply
In words he did not choose,
He would not say a thing untrue.
As his life unfolded
And his kindness grew,
He spoke in words of gentleness
Speaking only what he knew,
What he knew to be the truth.
Words will come, and words will go,
And rarely be remembered
But in due and honest diligence,
In kindness, and in truth,
In time, his legend grew.
The legend of a man
A kind and curious man
A man who would not lie,
Who would not say
A thing untrue.
©2004
Arterutan 