Take 5ive     Themed Issue :  Earth Day

---

---

Earth Day

As we celebrate Earth Day, let us not forget that Mother Nature is not a prop to be paraded around once a year. She is a living, breathing entity that sustains us every moment of our lives. The dramatization of this day cannot disguise the urgency of our environmental crisis. The planet is gasping for breath as she reels from deforestation, plastic pollution and climate change. We need to stop talking about sustainability and start taking drastic action to live within our ecological means. One day is not enough to make a lasting impact; we must remember that every day should be an opportunity to reflect on how we can reduce our carbon footprint and protect the earth for future generations. On this Earth Day, let us pledge to show her the gratitude she deserves by living consciously and restoring her balance with all the love we possess in our hearts.

---

Nani Mariani

invest in our planet
plant Trees
raise animals
let the birds be free
perched on the rocks

Birdsong
have love for the universe
a place to stand
there is hope
for generations


Tuyet Van Do

Earth Day, o Mother Earth
your trees are dying
your air is toxic
your water is poisoned
you are dying a slow death

Earth Day let it be everyday
o pilots please stop
no more spraying
no more lines in the sky
no more weather manipulation

Earth Day
let us reduce, reuse and recycle
let us do small acts of impact
saving 
Mother Earth


Sigrid Saradunn

high tea
in the secret garden
my husband built--
a stream runs thru it
with shade for lady slippers    

picking friends
who love life
those who disregard
mother earth
I can get along without     

artwork
to honor Mother Earth
using honey-base paint
on my marsh landscape
a dragonfly lands  
Ram Chandran

from the cliff
a dewdrop,
merges with mountain stream
becomes one with river
before merging into the ocean

a dewdrop
on the edge of a blade of grass
captures
the shining moon
hanging above the earth 


Kath Abela Wilson

Mother’s tears
her reservoir of dreams 
In Silver Lake
can they save the future 
of our grandkids now

tomatoes and zucchini
I let the artichoke
take over
the five-foot square of earth
we call the poetry garden  

for Mother Earth
on Earth Day
let's save all our 
pomegranate seeds to plant
a new garden of paradise


Anne Curran

my hurry
to harvest ripening grapes
before sundown -
so little time
to do what I love

pruning until dusk
last night - 
at day break
I deadhead the
the last hydrangea bush

the city empties
for a holiday weekend -
on my way to work
a seagull's cry
stranded inland


Barbara Anna Gaiardoni

once upon a time
ancestors roamed free
on this earth
this story could
be repeated

a bear family
sleeping under
the shade of a tree
people ignore her
at their peril


Karla Linn Merrifield

Entomological Happenstance:Tapestry
 
 On the day of dragonfly dew
and spider clouds
I climb sawtoothed sedges
to darn and spin morning
from their flowers—O, Sun!


Spinal Tapping
 
 The way it is.
Fingers are always bringing me news--
of temporary dwellings, hard blessings
three gray geese in migration.
It’s what the living do: journey.


Susan Burch

bamboo screen –
I leave the blinds 
down
so the birds can have 
their privacy

getting rid of
dead trees
some of 
our birds
now homeless

a green iguana
sunning itself
on a rock
in Key West 
living the good life


Lorraine Jeffery

Ducks

Only
Oregon ducks
thrive in this dismal damp
and eat bugs washed down with great gulps
of fog.

Yellow fanged winter
rips through ice, fog and snow while
his sour breath curdles
memories of pink salmon--
bringing new life up rivers.


Bryan Rickert

skipping stones
at the city pond
upside down
the half submerged
shopping cart

umbrella canopy -
how we protect 
the hatchlings 
on their way 
to the sea

in this tired
field of asters
bees working
as if autumn
isn’t already here


C.X. Turner

[food waste]

consumerism lives
in the burnt-out hollow
of an apple tree
fruit too ugly
to be seen in people’s hands

[anti-war]

birthday wishes
a child sings
for a better world
hoping to unwrap
peaceful times

[biodiversity loss]

a single bird
soars silently
traversing a melting world
beating its wings
above rising sea levels


Bonnie J Scherer

jackhammering,
the woodpecker
marks its territory -
exploration in the Arctic
making noise too

a lifetime of caring
you gave to me
Mother Earth
my turn now
as long as I shall be

a pauper’s gift
compared to your riches
Mother Earth
my ashes 
if you’ll have them


Mark Gilbert

a cormorant
plunges into the bay
bloated tankers 
wait for the oil price
to rise a little further

two halves
of an eggshell
left on the lawn
a pale blue sky
through the branches

cherry blossoms
form an arch
petals on the grass
show the way
from here to there


Diane Funston

a Japanese maple
from my son’s girlfriend’s dad
hopeful
for another new growth
in the family garden      

sky
filled with illusion of rain clouds
smoke 
from faraway forest fires
vultures stitch against the gray

trillium red and white
in deep redwood forest
missing
them this spring
along with my son 


Jon Hare

cool fresh air
with wafts of petrichor
daffodils and birdsong
all the senses
of spring on earth

an osprey’s call
pierces the heavy sky 
silent spring
we can make a difference
if we care enough to try

succession
lichens and mosses
slowly grow
on once barren rock
where glaciers flowed


Kathy Fran Kupka

thousand of maple seeds
litter the yard
we scoop and launch them--
delighted
with nature’s toys

empty milk jugs
remade into birdhouses
hang from the maple tree
my grandson and I
watch for mamma bird

picking up sticks
and fallen branches
my helpful grandson
with outstretched arms
disguised as a wheelbarrow


Anne Gruner

Extinction
 
Soon, we'll be frogless.
Some won't care till we're dogless,
for others, catless.
The hush of their absence: those
that buzz, chirp, sing, squeak, howl, roar.

Tanka Forecast
 
When thousand year storms
become annual, there'll be
no more denials.
Future geography class:
What's that island? Florida.

Black and Blue
 
Weep, as blue turns black,
sky, sea—ubiquitous death.
Who hears nature's cry?
You won't miss what you don't hear--
life so swiftly vanishing.


Giuliana Ravaglia

aspra montagna
ogni cosa nell’ombra
impervia e ostile
eppure in quelle altezze
com'è chiara la notte

rugged mountain
everything in the shadows
impervious and hostile
yet in those heights
how clear is the night



ondeggiano ombre
quando il sole s'oscura
nido di corvi
nell'azzurro ferito
si fa d'oro il mattino

shadows sway
when the sun goes dark
crows nest
in the wounded blue
the morning is golden


Peter Larsen

hug a tree
take a selfie with it
and memorize
its genus and species
in case you meet again

how can I grow
my own delectable
tomatoes
when water itself
is a luxury?

we peer out
from our lonely blue dot
wondering if
similar curious orbs
are searching for us


Srini

a sapling
is greeted by spring breeze
as a child
watches it keenly
through her window

wildflowers
in a concrete jungle
how
hope breaks through
the harshest ground

storm winds
on New Year's eve
telling us
the Earth is in need
of immediate rescue


Debbie Strange

earth's forests,
the guardians of breath . . .
we hold
them hostage against
our better nature


Keith Melton
 
Mystery
 
Plum light fixed to a blue sky
Velvet whispers in the stumble-bum darkness of days
Searching for the chakra that belongs to God
A name, a sound, a glimpse of sunrise
Written in the rapture, one name no longer still in this debate of souls.

Revival
 
Seeking evidence of the Muse
In the mystic petition of the sun’s flight, oblation
A cloud’s delight.
First gray, than lavender, then pink renewed
The crimson of his thorn in the skies bruise, dawn breaking through.
 

Tyson West

atmosphere as art
medium – casts a zephyr 
to lethal twister
earth’s beauty boils and burns
death – collateral damage

air twists – fire taps
water fandangos – ground
shakes and slides
ever changing forever
dance celebrating earth day


Tonia Kalouria

EARTH DAY 2023: AMERICA 

“Hey, says here Glyphosate and Paraquat are banned in many countries”…
“Says they’re linked to all sorts of diseases.”
“And that they can cause both physical and mental problems.”
“Hogwash! Our FDA would have banned them if they’re as bad as they say!”
“Oh! Reminds me… time to reorder!”


Chen-ou Liu

three-year-old me
lying on my stomach
in the garden
mother's shrub roses, a wormhole
to another world 


this Earth Day 
we stroll along the white sand ...
my son and daughter
start to run, then sprint
staying one step ahead of the surf


Xenia Tran

soft clouds
moving east to west
sand shifts
with a quiet mind
we welcome earth's small changes

one by one
they re-appear
sand bars
every day is earth day
for seals who catch the sun

sea haze
the pastel blues
of wholeness
a dog leaves happy prints
of circles in the sand


John Davis

Black Lights
 
Never is the night
so whole as when the landscape
offers moonstones and
sunstars, bloodstones and feldspar
black lights of the Earth.

Warning
 
Beware, scary days
if we don’t hold her, adore
her, bless her being
after she has given and
given, kept us safe and warm.


Sivakami Velliangiri 

A Mammoth Moth
 
Clinging to tree bark
big orange and golden moth
stretches out its wings
I worry about short life
my mobile phone gallery.

The Fish Picnic
 
Driving downhill
venturing into forests
sloping and curving u turns
splash our feet pristine waters
fish nibble our toes.


Wilda Morris

home-building
in the back yard
planting oaks for birds
caterpillars
and clean air



after looking through
mom's kitchen window
across those Kansas fields
I could never be satisfied
with a windowless kitchen


Jackie Chou 

usually dry 
this time of the year 
the pear tree 
now sleeved in white flowers 
after days of rain 

hummingbirds 
mating in the pine trees 
with abrupt calls…
I search the busy world 
for a good chat 

Sreenath

just enough time
           left 
to prevent digging 
our own graves 
. . . climate change

year after year
ice cap melting
emperor penguin
battling for survival
 - its empire shrinking
 
 ~
 
wild fire 
spreading like tsunami
horses on the run . . .
but the mute voices
of the flowers unheard 


Genevieve S. Aguinaldo 

after the storm 
the soil on my fingertips
embrace each nail
forming new continents
where centipedes roam fee

my son shakes the earth
from his little snow globe
blue and white glitters
blanket smiling families
entirely made of stone

he carves letters 
from empty milk cartons
while I wonder
how else could he stamp the world
with his promises of love


Steve Wilkinson

she cries
acidic tears
pleading
with her tenants
to respect their only home

fire and drought
flood and famine
the rot must stop
before the sands
of time run out

counting stars
and counting trees
one by one they vanish
in the city lights
in the chainsaw's buzz