Bermudiana
In spring, I would romp about untethered
Across the expanse, knee-deep in blue-eyed grass
Like a filly in the field with spirit
Among the purple Bermudiana.
Longtails and cahows would swoop o’er the waves
Of the majestic Atlantic briny air intake,
And I would run on the pink sands of Horseshoe Bay
And wear the skin off my feet on so gorgeous a day.
And from the hills where cedar and palmettos bend,
I’d hear vireos singing to their hearts’ content.
On the islands of Bermuda, where Bermudiana flourish,
From the Royal Naval Dockyard to Fort St. Catherine.
***
Note:
The Bermudiana (Sisyrinchium bermudiana) is a perennial spring bloomer endemic to Bermuda and is the country’s national flower.
Categories:
palmettos, environment, flower, nature, spring,
Form: Verse
Tall oak trees with shawls of Spanish moss
Tower over palmettos scorched and brown,
The rain drenches quickly from clouds
Heavy to pass on through the rising mists,
As the rude chimes sound mechanical
Creative melodies reverberating in protest,
Across the pasture where horses graze
Casually 'til late afternoon becomes dusk.
written June 5, 2021
Categories:
palmettos, farm, peace, places, solitude,
Form: Pastoral
Here is a time of anticipation,
hammocks poised for the days afternoon rain.
Glaring diamond sun, horizon ink black,
breezes stir hot thick air, thunder clouds call.
Sandhill Cranes graze in a lazy black stream,
glittering gold minnows lost as sun dims.
Mates for life in Florida's vast hammocks
now retreat to tall palmettos safety.
The bald eagle glides low to her storm perch
this nest of young chicks to shelter from storm.
Darkness builds as rumbles roll from the sea,
roiling black clouds swiftly move on sea's breeze.
Fury rushes through tall saw grass with speed,
at the will of driven rain, sand pines groan.
Palms defiant in the gusting wind stand,
Spanish moss on oaks like ghostly limbs wave.
Lightning flashes in most deafening roar,
hammock now obscure in a gray curtain.
Islands of shell in black water rising,
world embraced in a replenishing wrath.
The wind driven storm moves quickly inland,
rain lightens, winds calm, clouds open and pass.
The sun, glaring bright, air hot and humid,
water drips from still trees framed in rainbows.
Robert Gene Stoner Jr ©
8/16/16
Categories:
palmettos, nature, poetry,
Form: Verse