Poetry – Balance

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Balance

Teetering 0n the brink

It’s all about balance and sense.

Clinging to life on the edge

For so many creatures it’s intense.

Do we possess the balance

Or do we not really care?

Is everything for the taking?

Do we want more than our own share?

Can we find the balance?

Or will our numbers swamp the earth?

Do we kill without a thought?

Not caring what any of it is worth?

One planet out of balance –

Plundered, ripped and torn;

Bewildered animals murdered

For fur, for space for horn.

Rivers, oceans, Jungles

Denuded, poisoned and cut down.

Gun and saw, fire and net

Turning land from green to brown.

Where’s the balance?

Opher 3.2.2019

A good balance would leave half the planet to nature and for us to live in the other half.

But no – we have to plunder and pillage for profit no matter what the cost.

The Leeds to Liverpool Canal – photos

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Life on the canal is a world of its own.

This was a motorway of the past!

The intelligence and wonder of animals

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May be an image of outdoors and text


2h  · 

Diem Jones

22 August at 13:39  · A fisherman spotted her just east of the Faralon Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so badly off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her…. a very dangerous proposition. One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer. They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, nudged them, and pushed gently, thanking them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.

May you be so fortunate to be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you. And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude 🙏

Poetry – Animals Burn

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Animals Burn

While animals fry and fires burn

                The perpetrators never seem to learn.

Lands flood and other lands dry

                But some people never ask why.

So, profits are made and trees fall

                And they do not care at all.

The lies are spread in a cynical way

                And the future looks decidedly grey.

Green laws are repealed,

                The truth concealed,

Money stashed,

                Habitats crashed.

Time for the great backlash!!

                OUR PLANET IS WORTH MORE THAN HARD CASH!!!

Opher -14.1.2020

Poetry – Dear Mr Bolsonaro

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Dear Mr Bolsonaro

Dear Mr Bolsonaro, please take a minute

In between chopping down trees

And bringing all those with contrary views

To their knees

To listen to the birds, the animals

And the pleas;

The people who care about nature

And the purity of the breeze

Who feel the need for oxygen

And life within our seas.

Please Mr Bolsonaro, please.

Opher 8.1.2019

Trump Mark 2 – the scourge of the Amazon. Another black and white populist who wants to rule with the gun, cares not a jot for the environment or sensibilities and is only concerned with himself, getting elected and the fanatical support of his base.

He talks of clearing rainforest, putting a motorway through the wilderness, opening up logging and mining. It’s only ever about money.

Mr Bolsonaro – there’s more to life than money!

Vigo Spain – Sculptures and flowers

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After walking through the city with the power of the bankers on display it was time for some different art and nature.

The stupidity of man!

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Poetry – Do Elephants Dream?

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Do Elephants Dream?

Do elephants dream

Of their slaughter?

Do they cherish life?

Do elephants wish

For a better life

For their children?

Opher 29.11.2018

Too many humans see animals as expendable ‘things’ to be shot, cleared away, driven out and treated with no care.

They are not ‘things’. They are creatures just like us who relish life, who care for their children, who are conscious.

Poetry – The Tree

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The Tree

Rooted firmly in the ground,

Anchored by a network of great cables

That fan out

Through soil and rock

Clutching,

Wedging,

Holding.

It’s trunk solid, stout and gnarled,

Solid as column of granite

                Resolute,

Strong,

Grand and defiant,

Unbending in the wind,

Stout against the elements;

A pillar of Hercules;

Defiant against the universe,

Thrusting up into the sky.

Its branches radiating

As strong arms

Reaching to the heavens,

Dividing again and again,

Bisecting,

Radiating,

Into a filigree

Of fine twigs,

A delicate latticework,

An umbrella of artwork,

On which the myriad emerald green leaves,

Each one a work of art,

A joy,

Are supported in the air,

Bathing in the sunlight,

Rusting on the breeze.

A noble living giant?

A work of art?

A compendium?

Syncitium?

Mystical – a complex wonder to behold!

A tree.

A leviathan of flora,

                A monster of complexity,

                                Repository of wonder.

A tree.

Opher – 9.8.2021

I find there is something spiritual, divine, magical and resplendent in the majesty of mighty trees.

They transcend.

Brazil Rainforest – Capuchin Monkeys

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As we reached the road, exiting from the Botanical Gardens, a troupe of capuchin monkeys came scampering through the undergrowth and on to the railings.

My they were a sight! Fabulous!