Seed for Thought
Kindness is
planting milkweed seed
for a monarch butterfly
we've never met.
My daughter and I
dig a trench along
a wooded path,
where just a bit of light comes in.
It's place where a caterpillar
might live its days in
emerald twilight,
munching its favorite food,
until it winds hope about itself.
Then it can be still,
listening to the wind
and the dog walkers,
the trail joggers
and the children finding pebbles
among the leaves and earth
in this green place of wishes.
Kindness is hoping it grows.
Kindness is carrying water in two hands,
sloshed onto colorful sneakers,
dribbled onto a rumpled trench.
Kindness is wishing all winter
for not-too-cold, not-too-dry,
for that seed to remember
the loving hands that patted
the soil into place.
Kindness is imagining the world
orange and yellow,
full of fluttering wings,
Without a care for oneself.
© 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham. All rights reserved.
Rebecca M. Davis has challenged us to write poems about acts of kindness this month– the more specific and vivid the better. Click HERE for more details.
Send your poem to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com, or use the contact form in the sidebar to the right. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration this Friday, November 27th, and one lucky participant will win copies of two delightful picture books published by Boyds Mills Press: THIS ORQ. (HE CAVE BOY.) and THIS ORQ. (HE SAY "UGH!") by David Elliott, illustrated by Lori Nichols.
We still have the opportunity to be kind to the natural world. One day soon, it may be too late. This poem is a nice reminder.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, a very nice reminder! Well done, Brenda.
DeleteWhat a beautiful and hopeful poem, all the details make it very real. Love "until it winds hope about itself"-perfect. Thanks, Brenda.
ReplyDeleteExcellent. Loved it, Brenda. Your poem is full of hope. Thank you, thank you.
ReplyDeleteThere's so much to love about this poem, Brenda. I love that it's not just about planting a milkweed seed, but it's about the fragility of nature, and and what we would be missing if we don't take care of it. It's about passing the kindness down from generation to generation. And that glorious, unselfish ending... I love that ending.
ReplyDeleteThis is simply lovely. It's good to be reminded of our duty as stewards of the earth and small things can make a big difference. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteBrenda, my favorite part of this nourishing poem is the idea of water
ReplyDelete"dribbled onto rumpled a trench"
because
for one / I haven't seen the words rumpled or trench in ages - they are perfect together.
and for two/ This poem is so lovingly full of patience, the right way of teaching.
Brenda, This is so beautiful. I'm with Linda . . . this line . . . oh my! "until it winds hope about itself."
ReplyDelete