Engaging with Veterans OR Questions left Hanging on (Family) Trees

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

“We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realise that we are apes.”

- Richard Dawkins, A Devil's Chaplain:Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science and Love

“To dwellers in a wood, almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature.”
- Thomas Hardy, Under the Greenwood Tree

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."

- William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida

From my window, I can easily make out two trees, facing each other across a road; no imagination can fail to respond to nature, and mine is no exception. Among their leaves and branches, heads emerge closely resembling apes.

During the UK lock-down, I have engaged with these head shapes; as the wind blows, I is as if they are engaging in conversation and my muse frequently enjoyed listening-in. Could this be   because I live alone and missing social interaction with friends, I ask myself, or am I losing more than my share of marbles? We only have to read history books to discover that so many questions are left hanging … or listen in to tree apes.

ENGAGING WITH VETERANS or NATURE AND HUMAN NATURE, QUESTIONS LEFT HANGING ON (FAMILY) TREES

Something about certain shapes in our trees

against a lively backcloth of sky

suggests a Planet of Apes lasting centuries?

Life forces everywhere, aping personalities

not unfamiliar to the human eye;

something about certain shapes in our trees

Eyes, noses, mouths, courtesy of arty leaves

lends imagination a reality by and by,

suggests a Planet of Apes lasting centuries?

Earth Mother, mulling on human ingenuities

(among them, the bare faced lie);

something about certain shapes in our trees

Humankind, all but bringing nature to its knees,

whisperings in the wind’s weepy sigh,

suggests a Planet of Apes lasting centuries?

Enter, humanity obsessed with potential enemies

(more power to the elbow than any sky);

something about certain shapes in our trees

suggests a Planet of Apes lasting centuries?

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2020

Note: Composed May 1^st  during the UK  lockdown]

Lament for a Grasshopper

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

I have nothing against progress. Civilization would not have come far without it. At the same time, nature deserves better than to have us measure progress in terms other than material gain or cosmetic ‘improvement’. Nature protects us as well as giving us pleasure and breathing space to consider out options…

Nature is an inspiration, not just for artists and poets but for every man, woman and child in the street who seeks sanctuary sometimes, precious moments of peace and quiet away  from the frantic hustle and bustle of everyday life (and worse) in the modern world.

Yes, nature can be cruel, but perhaps humankind should look to its own archives before we enter into that argument.

Nature is a treasure beyond words, much of which we are in danger of losing forever; the more we lose, the less likely future generations will ever forgive us.

This poem is a villanelle, given a degree of poetic licence.

LAMENT FOR A GRASSHOPPER

Once I heard a grasshopper sing,

heard the dawn chorus…

where now, trucks thundering

I have heard bluebells ring

sweet sounds of silence;

once, I heard a grasshopper sing

I saw a stream, twisting, turning,

haunted by otters …

where now, trucks thundering

I have watched birds mating

in leafy trees;

once, I heard a grasshopper sing

There used to be a graceful flying

of kingfishers …

where now, trucks thundering

No denying nature's every warning

through the centuries ...

Once, I heard a grasshopper sing

where now, trucks thundering

[Note: An errors occurs in the version that appears in A Feeling for the Quickness of Time by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2005]