EARTH DAY POEM

By Peter Hill

The naked sun flashes
Shatters the lethargic night
Scatters shards of light
Into the teeming forest
That glistens
From the residual effects
Of a predawn rain.

Tangled foliage trickles water
Moisture for the underbrush;
Preserves the life cycle.

The aroused rainforest
Yields intricate smells
That pervade the humid air
Animal and other spoors;
Wild orchids, decaying wood.

Intoxicating nectars
Sublimate the senses.

And danger flows. Feral
Movements; predators
Prowl the forest primeval.
Sustenance on every
Biological hierarchy.

Life forms writhe, grasping
To secure a foothold in this
Guarded and tenuous
Environment; yet a
Collective sharing. The
Victors advance inexorably
Towards a benevolent dawn.