Best Twig Poems
I wandered lonely as a twig
that fell into an endless stream.
I’d turn and sometimes make a zig
or bob along in a bad dream.
No longer on a branch was I
to gaze steadfastly at blue sky.
Instead this stream was moving me
so rapidly – I knew not where.
Oh, how I missed my tall oak tree
and breath of autumn in the air
when wind would blow my leaf so small
which had turned scarlet in the fall.
One day that tiny leaf was gone.
Not long thereafter, I was too.
Gone was the field I’d smiled upon.
A course unknown I would pursue.
How strange! Although I once knew rain,
this too much water was my bane.
No home had I, nor pretty views
like once I had when I belonged
to that great oak. I did not choose
this fate so cruel. I felt so wronged
till wood debris stopped water’s flow.
Now friends are twigs I’ve come to know!
Sept. 21, 2022
NA in the "I Wandered Lonely As...." Challenge" Contest, judged 10/22/22
For Writing Challenge - X'd Poems Second Chance Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Constance La France
A harvest moon peeps
Through the silver mango tree
Hermit on a twig
romantic setting
beneath green mistletoe twig
two hearts united
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
© All Rights Reserved
Placed No. 10 in Andrea Dietrich's "Haiku Me A Christmas Tree" Contest - Dec 2010
Why this day you break
The only productive twig
The giver of life to many
A shelter to the birds
Of different kinds and color
Not even a tear you wipe
Your eyes dry like charcoal
In love you were with it
All gone never to be
Not even a seed you protected
To continue the twig life
Why think its cursed?
Yet the best it produces
Even in dry or wet seasons
The twig will grow stronger
In another world.
A new person will till
Till fully grown to produce
The heat is soaring;
No breeze to allay;
Little puff clouds drifting,
Magnolia leaves falling,
No moisture in sight,
A twig lay on the bannister,
Or that’s what it tries to be,
It is a long camouflaged insect
Yearning to be free.
Fly away, twigged bug,
And message the clouds to rain.
Brittle and broken, the eucalyptus snaps loudest.
Pulverized by constant wear
of boots on dusty trails.
Debris of lifeless memories
detached from vital source,
scattered broken on apathetic earth,
pummeled by the passerby.
A lifetime of transforming sunlight obliterated
in the spiraling downward dance of fall,
to publicly mourn its own demise
at the foot of the future,
blooming green and leafy in the sun.
Life starts and bursts so young and eager.
And so the workhouse of servitude begins its tasks.
Fully ripened and heavy in the heat of maturity
then snapping, sailing in the autumnal chill.
Yet in death, oh my, the scent returns,
a citrusy, mint, rosemary-like eulogy.
Eucalyptus snaps the loudest in refrain
to a singular journey at its end.
the green twig
from the failing honeysuckle
presses this window
leads me to love the green force
even in chilly december
When time does pass so quickly and things aren't what they were back then,
I sometimes sit and wonder how things might have been.
What if I now were different? Been raised in a different way?
What if different stars had crossed my path, that brought me to this day.
Just as the twig so bent into a tree does thusly grow,
Form a child's thoughts and mind and he will reap from what you sow
What if the arts and gentle feelings had been allowed to rule my day?
To be able to marvel at a delicate flower and know that it was okay.
What if sometimes playing was as acceptable as the work?
To know the pen of the poet and not draw some questioning smirk.
To know that sometimes crying was just a part of nature's plan,
That sometimes crying didn't make you lesser of a man.
When in times of darkness it is sometimes okay to be afraid,
And when someone is troubled to give some gentle loving aid.
Now what if I were different? Been raised in a different way.
What would have been my destiny? Who would be standing here today?
a twig snap
from the cliff -
bobcat
treetops glint
in sunlight -
jackrabbit leaps
footpath
between the trees -
hoot owl
a twig snap
from the cliff -
bobcat
treetops glint
in the sunlight -
jackrabbit leaps
footpath
between the trees -
hoot owl
Long ago I had a coroner friend.
He unloaded many tales of great darkness
People passing away in strange ways-in strange places.
Distorted postures in a maggot's buffet.
People going out for a bite to eat-
but never returning.to families.
His impression and confessionals never leave me.
I shared some of my stories with him.
But they paled in comparison to his.
I doubt if he remembers any of them...
Does any remember a twig 'neath a redwood tree.
I was feeling like I was beginning to forgive
I had started to make peace
So, I decided to reach out
Test the waters
Extend an olive twig
And within the exchange of only a few words
You snapped it in two
October 18, 2020
@katladyt_
Its not the revile
in the morning
its about your tears
and how you wish
away tomorrow
When today is the stet
Its not the sound of zephyr
that plays occasionally
Its the truth blowing precariously
The branches learn to bend
We took the side road to Bexhill
We saw the flames of our love dissipate
that early spring
The pale leaves of spring unfurl in splendor
A soft blanket covers the land
Forest and fields wake
As a gentle wind blows in the heat of summer
Tall grass stands perched on the dry ground
Birds sing in the early morning
Then seek a shady perch
Life in motion
All in a deep green
In the leaves comes autumn
Lands of yellows and reds
In clear bright air
The sun hurries by on a short arc
Warmth leaves the earth
The travelers pass on their way
Over and over the seasons beat time
Under a tree pop moon
The wind blows a promise
Of warmer days to come
We watch as we stride
Through the powerful beauty
A worthless-seeming
Twig pile mixed with twine and string
~ Mother bird's jewels