Best Branch Out Poems
The Mother Tree
I am the mother tree that spawned the seeds of you.
My children, you've grown and branched away from me.
You've married, left home to start your life anew.
Where e'er you go remember you're my family.
My roots run very deep into the earthly soil.
My centered rings are many, you may not yet view.
They show the story of my years of work and toil
And of growth and wisdom I've tried to share with you.
As you branch out, your little seedlings too will grow.
You'll try to keep them safe under your canopy.
One day when they grow up and leave, you too will know
The painful pangs of missing branches on your tree.
As they return for advice from their mother tree
Remind them to honor God with humility.
6-13-20
~First Place~ Poem of the Day June 15, 2020~
Non Human Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Chantelle Anne Cooke
Categories:
branch out, birth, children, family, grandchild,
Form:
Sonnet
Love,
our most
precious gift,
helps our world turn
with stronger heartbeats.
Reach out to help dear friends;
stretch arms to embrace loved ones.
Greet strangers with that happy smile;
branch out to spend time with the lonesome.
Our love...the strength that turns the world around.
Our love...the strength that turns the world around.
But earth's heart and soul need our love too.
Planet earth maintains nature's rules:
must spend her gifts cautiously,
safeguard her atmosphere,
save cherished water.
She requires care
to move on.
Grant her
Love.
Categories:
branch out, love, world,
Form:
Etheree
Painting You
Before painting, I first sketch you
In my mind’s eye…To compose
The lines, shapes, shadows and lights,
That work altogether to form a semblant sight
Of you for any relative, friend or acquaintance…
Next, I embrace the required courage
To face the blank canvas; to dip my brush
In sublime tones for my wild orchid wishes,
Wanting to stroke across the heavens
For reflecting starlights bright,
Which I’ll situate to split the darker places
Where the inks bleed and branch out
Around you, smudging your purest colors…
That I endeavor to recover
When illness tries to smother
You with a viridescent blanket for on-going days;
Cloaking the glance of your azure blue eyes;
Pulling gray and white from your skull
To streak through your forest brown hair;
Rushing flag red moments to your cheeks
When you growl, “No. Don’t—“ when I
Try any way to help you through the fevers
That hang dredged plum-violet clouds over
The sofa — away — where you stay sleeping…
While I sit crimson awake worrying,
Watching you breathe…And asking
Through faith’s golden prayers for your healing;
For our holy Lord to send some ministering angels
— With their glistening opaline feathered wings;
Who side by side, place hands on you ~ veiling
My first view of prayers’ answers coming true;
Lifting me to a bloom of rosebud gratitude.
I paint you never far.
I paint your ocean blue eyes opening.
I paint you always beside me in a sandcastle brown.
I dapple the air over us an effervescent pink.
I paint your prism presence close.
I paint your mid-night’s Arora Borealis dancing hues.
Our love is a stippled, rolling color wheel
Of our linked diamond destinies: journeying
Together on amber roads under sapphire skies.
—————————————————
(c) sally young eslingwe 10/17-18/2023
Glory to God…
Categories:
branch out, color, devotion, feelings, health,
Form:
Imagism
A snow-splattered,
cheerful red house.
Pine, sparkling white.
A snowman gladly,
proud and robust,
wears red-trimmed black hat,
a long green plaid scarf.
Buttons almost popping
off his pronounced belly.
His arms branch out
as if they are long fingers,
and there rests
a Christmas red cardinal.
Wind-pinched, freckle-faced kid
sweeps in, holding a sled -
done for the day. He’s ready
to make cookies,
just as mom promised.
The inside is warm.
The kid takes off his boots,
gloves, jacket, but not
his smile. Mom kisses
his cold-wet cheek.
He is glad for the warmth.
His pig-tailed sister is waiting
at the table, rolling the dough -
the little bit mama gave her.
They giggle - they will save
a couple cookies for dad,
and a tall glass of milk.
They cut shapes -
trees, sleds, angels
and use leftover dough
for kolaches filled with jelly.
Mom lets the kids
eat them warm from the oven,
but the cookies
must cool and wait
to be buttercream frosted.
Dad will get his cookies
and milk. Bright eyes
watch him. The cardinal
is now perched
on the snowman’s hat.
The snowman
hasn’t moved.
Days go by. The snowman
loses his pouch, buttons
popping off, his carrot nose
on the ground, branches askew.
The bird flew away
a long time ago
and the kids are back
in school.
Categories:
branch out, bird, christmas, food, kid,
Form:
Narrative
I am located in a park, where I am contemplating adjacent trees.
One tree in particular has caught my attention.
With each thought I feel ever more at one with this tree.
How can I contemplate trees without becoming one?
Just think what happened to Narcissus, who turned into a daffodil.
Or the nymph Daphne, who became a laurel tree.
What's so bad about being a tree anyway?
Is not it a good thing to put down roots?
But what about the loss of mobility that would follow?
Trees have carefree lives, though.
No taxes, rushing to work, paying bills.
On the other hand in my present state
I need not worry about woodworm, acid rain, being pruned,
woodpeckers or serving the needs of leg-lifting dogs.
And family affairs? Hmm.. Do I want my kids to be nuts?
It's all very well to branch out - in metaphoric terms, that is.
Oh, that board meeting! It’s time to go.
Hey, my limbs are stiff.
I can’t move my trunk. My fingers are green.
Silly thought, no one turns into a tree these days!
Aaaaahhhhh!
Swish, swish. Rustle rustle..
Categories:
branch out, bereavement, change, green,
Form:
Prose Poetry
At peace with the outdoors,
Where life's creatures roam
Within nature, I am at home.
The North East is where I grew.
My roots I barely knew.
As the seasons drift,
I accommodate the shift;
Embracing them all.
Feeling most alive during fall;
A time bright colors enthrall.
The wind touches me like an old friend.
Our movements dance and blend.
Arms with body sway as hands flutter around;
Flapping until they rest and fall down.
I may appear fragile;
A belief unfounded.
I am by nature;
Born well-grounded.
As birds and insects gently fly,
People sit or stand nearby
Admiring beauty, as if they see
An inner sweetness inside of me--
A commodity untapped and sought,
Without pride, I embrace that thought.
My arms branch out
Towards the southern skies,
Thankful for all it supplies.
In time my outer skin loosens and cracks with wear,
From the wind's motion and the sun's glare.
My girth is another rough gauge
Of the circles of years that determine my age.
Lovers have engraved their affection;
I am a part of life's connection.
And when my form of existence does cease...
Just as before I began, I will end in peace.
08/23/15
Categories:
branch out, tree,
Form:
Personification
CORRUPTION
As the tree branch its hands to collect wind
So do men branch out their hand to offer and collect my willingly.
Sweetness, and bitterness of life are my darkness works
Those who eat from me are those singing the song- let’s stop corruption.
Who can say, am the cause of drought in all nations?
Everywhere, echoes of your senseless possessions, crimpled the lands
Look inside you, you will see corruption seed happily growing.
Colour of skins, no longer fear but trend on my path.
Some kill to magnified me; some are roped into my wide name.
The mouth of the corrupted wants me stop for better life
Better life they never intended for any living souls
I am everywhere: in the church, in the mosques, in the families, in the schools;
Even in the bedroom of individual. I am there.
As the nose stood on the face, so do I; in your mind
What you do not need; you do have them.
You give birth to me daily in your blood and tongue
Your eyes sees me and glued to me.
To end me, is to end all humanities; all have corrupted.
Who can says am not part of him or her?
The only truth in your mouth is me.
I am the bedrock of distinct colour’s economy
I made them rich and kept others borrowers.
I made some rich, I made some rotten in jail, while some are permanently poor.
Famine, marginalisation, mass death; strengthen my existence and co-existence.
I walk through dispensations till date.
Those who enjoyed me pervert the course of justice and fairness
Oh, thou that eat from my table, why do thou want me sentence?
Has thou considered: your husband, wife, children and friends who I fed fat?
I have come to stay in this world since man never think to stop wanting more;
You called me corruption, but I called you my seed.
I am god to the rich and enemy to the poor.
If I smile to your faces or hands , no one can resist and flee
I gummed your eyes and palms as the fluid in the bone.
I am due for legalisation and honour
honour me as you do for those I made.
Having headaches daily on how to end me
never stop me from living in the heart of men.
I need recognition; sign ne into law worldwide.
by Pastor Omojevewe Emmanuel
Categories:
branch out, corruption,
Form:
Light Verse
Wrinkles caress her face.
A child emerges from within.
Smile straight from her heart.
Advice given from wisdom.
Enjoy your life when you are young.
Never just sit around doing nothing.
Someday you will be old like me.
Wanting to branch out, seeing the world.
I never went to far from home.
Never got to experience life.
I gave it up made some sacrifices.
Felt smothered with great remorse.
Had to work two jobs.
Never got to see the joy.
Took care of an ailing man.
Kids drove me crazy with wants.
Now I am alone and old.
I can barely walk.
But in these last few months,
I find even now, I can have fun.
A trip to the zoo with my grandson.
The first in over thirty years.
Antique mall shopping,
with my newest friend.
Now I can have luncheons out.
I have a favorite spot.
Now on my Senior discount.
It does not cost much at all.
I can sleep as long as I want.
Do not have to wake at a certain time.
I only have me to answer too.
No more do I have to live the grind.
So with all that I am, I do hope.
My children will see before it is too late.
Get out and experience what life has to offer.
Because someday you will be like me.
Categories:
branch out, family, life, motherlife, me,
Form:
Free verse
Water, in a protein sense,
salt and other substances,
make up plasma, which, in kind,
account for half of blood's design.
A mammal's blood is red and bright,
-from oxygen, when mixed inside.
Because of an iron-filled kind of protein,
Hemoglobin, it's red and glowing.
Red and white cells fill the half,
oxygen rides in small red rafts.
Compared to white, the reds are many,
born from marrow, good and plenty.
Blood supplies glucose and acids,
while carbon dioxide wastes are banished.
Coagulation is the body's repair,
as hormones message when damage is there.
It regulates the body heat,
hydro-mechanics, just like a machine.
Blood makes 7% of your weight,
red cells live 120 days.
The white cells clot the blood on site,
they help by killing parasites.
White cells come in different types,
some kill bacteria, and fungi,
allergic reactions, virus cells,
tumors, pathogens as well.
If only we could go within,
to see a white cell's origin.
We could show our gratitude,
for those that keep us strong like new.
Our health is their only mission,
their ranks are in the immune system.
The heart drives blood throughout the body,
from the ventricles, to the arteries.
-Back to the heart and through the veins,
ventricle, artery, lungs, you could say,
the blood travels far, and this would be truth,
it takes 30 seconds to complete it's route.
Oxygen brought in must be spread around,
While carbon dioxide is what's carried out.
The vein is a valve containing the waste,
which is pushed with help from muscles in legs.
Arteries branch out as smaller roads called,
Capillaries, just one cell thick is their wall.
The blood must be slowed to allow the breakdown,
of substances, nutrients, eat up the chow!
Blood is classified in 200 groups,
you inherit whichever your parents gave you.
The most common kinds are "A" "B" and "O",
Some have "A" or "B", and some people have both.
It's important to know, should you need more blood,
a bad combination will make it clot up.
Blood brings to life almost every creature,
-we could not be without, those...5...liters.
Categories:
branch out, education, family, children, health,
Form:
Free verse
Once, long distant calls would cost
You, your friends and family so many voices
had to wait, anticipate the budget and the worth
of words said out loud to ride rapid electric lines.
Still sentiments of love freely fly on telepathic planes
while prose and poetry remain yours truly.
When present face to face do you speak truly?
Conversations branch out, chip, splinter into stories, that's the cost.
Fish stretch past arms' length and record breaking climbs pass clouds and planes.
Tell me again how it all began, how many voices
sang out from heaven: Forgiveness for sale! Limited supply, form lines.
Greedy practice, selling soul's salvation, who figures out what it's worth?
Fear can make us pay the selfish who decide our worth.
Are our souls and spirits make-believe, a magician's trick or God's, truly?
Conversations of belief from heart or scripted lines
brainwashed or sincerely swayed, choice has a cost---
Cross your fingers, chant the scriptures, sing with all your voices
until it's real or a lie you can live with, insured for your departure in heaven's plane.
If a soldier's plane crashes, angelic eagles soar, swoop like planes,
nose dive to every soldier because lives are worth
remembering. Telephones shoot words-- bam, bam, bam, fire voices
on ears that bleed worst fears, shattering those who love them truly.
Nothing will ever be sweet or innocent again, this is an impossible cost.
War kills conversations, steals final farewell lines.
Songs please draw forgiving lines,
to rise over hatred in unarmed planes
for a bird's eye perspective to consider the cost
of love lost in doubt, its worth.
Love lights up any sort of soul, truly.
It's power hurls bolts through nerves that revive the mystic voices...
Devils, misfits, do-gooders, cherubs and chumps-- let's hear all your voices!
Call out to love, it won't resist, will cross any line
to save who is good or bad-- it desires everyone, truly
Here comes the light, hear comes our flight, listen for the plane
Remember it's insane to worry about your worth,
to be, to be, is miracle enough, we can't comprehend the cost.
Solo fly or get in line formation with you plane
Lift off, blast past hatred to reach Love's treasure of unimaginable worth.
Truly precious, so protect it, Love in all your actions no matter what the cost
Categories:
branch out, faith, forgiveness, peacelove, perspective,
Form:
Sestina
desire to branch out
hoping for leaves to caress
lightning interrupts
For Delilah Ventura’s “I Am a Tree Contest”.
Categories:
branch out, care, hurt, loneliness,
Form:
Haiku
My family roots ain’t long
how could they ever be
They cut off bits each day
we’re now the minority
Wish they’d leave us alone
set my kindred free
Back to our glory days
when life meant liberty
Don’t want this microcosm
stunted growth of misery
Please let us branch out
Stop this inequality
We wish to caress the sky
regain full gravity
So much for ethnic groups
who’d be a bonsai tree
If only my wish would come true
Sponsored by: Anoucheka Gangabissoon
06/16/22
Categories:
branch out, allusion, feelings, freedom,
Form:
Personification
You are the pride of a nation
revealing the beauty of it's people
you reflect a nation's heart, mind, and soul
more brilliantly than pavo cristatus...
With grace and agility
you embody the power of your people
youthful energy unyielding strength
rivaled only by panthera tigris...
You are the nelumbo nucifera gaertn
the sacred flower of your people
keeper of art, music, mythology
guardian of it culture...
Your thoughts branch out into words
like the branches of the ficus bengalensis
which re-root themselves into fertile soil
those words take root in the hearts of your people
and become immortal...
You are more than the pride of a nation
Mundaka Upanishad scripture said
satyameva jayate
you are proof that truth alone triumphs...
Categories:
branch out, friendship,
Form:
Free verse
My name is Mrs. Spring
I can do some pretty wondrous things
And
Hidden beneath my heart felt sprinkles
Are dew drop star wishes of morning light twinkles
My all time favorite color is every bit of green
And my magic allows me to change from winter into spring
But
Master Winter cannot seem to do anything in rhythmical flow
And he even turns my precious rain right back into hellacious snow
Birds begin to move once again and I love to hear them whistle
Mamma bears and cubs cautiously appear making spring become official.
Buds branch out from leaf baring trees and then flowers fall from the skies
Children begin to grin again splashing in puddled rainbows; precious sparkles in their eyes.
She's quite the sight to see; is that seasoned Mrs. Spring
Earning her keep to remain Queen Mrs. Spring, loving mother to nature and goddess of green.
You can always see why I mean just by the way we all turn green whenever we step outside, about to be greeted by the majestic, Mrs. Spring!
The end
3/19/17
Categories:
branch out, spring,
Form:
Rhyme
***
If you should go,
And I should stay,
And the sun will set,
And the flowers will wither,
And the birds will fly home,
And the summer will end,
And the leaves will fall,
And will feed the earth,
And will seed new growth,
And will branch out greens,
And will host birds,
And beauty will bloom,
I will hold the sun
Deep within my breast all night long.
- maria
10.9.15
Categories:
branch out, friendship, hope, leaving, life,
Form:
Free verse