For this week's #LiftToTheSky I've trawled back to early January and #PoemsAbout #NaturalReckoning

Here's a visceral response to the 'Thorns and Tendrils' prompt from Louise Longson @louisepoetical.bsky.social

@brokenspinearts.bsky.social
@alanparry83.bsky.social

#PoetsOnBluesky

Striking visual and thematic structure. The fragmented flow mirrors the tension between beginnings and inevitable endings. #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #NaturalReckoning

What a wonderful set of prompts for #PoemsAbout #naturalreckoning @alanparry83.bsky.social
I have had a go at Prompt 7 (Thorns & Tendrils), which turned out quite differently to how I thought it would! Loving all the responses so far - inspiring!

Haunting and layered, capturing weariness in the cyclical pull of seasons and identity. The burning woodlands and ‘long inbetweening’ speak to a fractured connection to purpose. I'm now reflecting on life’s quiet disillusionments. Please keep sharing. #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #NaturalReckoning

This traces a gripping tension between nature and human construction, where ivy reclaims with both destruction and renewal. The line ‘new earth perfection’ stirred a reflection on how decay seeds immortality. A potent vision of transformation. Keep sharing! #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #NaturalReckoning

#poetrycommunity #poetrysky At year's end I want to reshare this, part of my way of not making very much sense of my mother's journey into Alzheimer's...💔 first published by @asylummagazine.bsky.social I realise this could also have been for #PoemsAbout #NaturalReckoning @alanparry83.bsky.social

Pulse and Impulse (Excerpt) Their souls are woven with mime, a dance of Lila, a narrative of sculptures in motion, in the swell of divine play.   The dance erupts, sharp release, unfolding form and gesture, binding essence and substance, a surge of primal impulse.   Dark heat, fire heat, body heat, pulse in knowing steps and chant, in circle rite, serpentine body forms, organic, instinctive, gestured.   Body beauty, ebb and flow, the scent of desire, of devotion, synchrony in dance and kinship, sacred and sacrificial.   © Glenn Barker April 2023, edited December 2024  

Hello @brokenspinearts.bsky.social and host @alanparry83.bsky.social

Here's a bonus from your 'Invasive Roots' email prompts on #PoemsAbout #NaturalReckoning

Thank you for reading 📚 🔥
#PoetsOnBluesky

My one: #vss365
#naturalreckoning
@alanparry83.bsky.social
#writingcommunity
#fridayincantation

This captures nature’s quiet. The ‘pointillist paw prints’ evoke delicate yet invasive life. The final ‘swallows, settles, sighs’ offers a resigned acceptance of nature’s return. Deeply evocative imagery. #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #NaturalReckoning

Poem: I’ve seen it in my dreams The house chokes on ivy that slides through stucco cracks and shattered panes, between wooden laths, mice nest, pointillist paw prints dot the plaster-dusted floor, part of the larger picture— from the rafters, a pigeon audience coos as the ivy climbs higher and through, retaking, reclaiming--- and the house swallows, settles, sighs.

Happy Sunday! This is a response to the extra #NaturalReckoning prompts. I hope this is correct. This poem responds to "Invasive Roots" with the given first line. @alanparry83.bsky.social @brokenspinearts.bsky.social

I don't always use repetition but there are times when it completes the rhythm AND anchors an image or action. Thank you for your comment 💜 #poemsabout #naturalreckoning

As our brains amplify threat & loss & skip the good stuff & generosity's a virtue to celebrate, here's big applause for @brokenspinearts.bsky.social & @alanparry83.bsky.social who did hard work of close reading & thoughtful feedback for any soul who posted poems here yesterday on #NaturalReckoning 👏

This captures the frenetic energy of birds, likened to ‘a trader on the floor’ grounding the natural world in human chaos. The line ‘Perhaps they are looking at us, perhaps they are thinking bless them’ delivers quiet reflection. #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #NaturalReckoning

My first time dipping into #poemsabout @alanparry83.bsky.social
I am a neonatologist and a poet.
This is a family poem with a #naturalreckoning

This poem’s refrain, ‘First came the waves of people, then came the waves of water’ is haunting in its simplicity. Phrases like ‘the storm wolf came for us’ transform nature into a vengeful force, amplifying its chilling inevitability. Unflinching critique! #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #NaturalReckoning

First came the waves of people Then came the waves of water The stories that those people told us We could hardly credit Of how the storm wolf blew their houses down Her tornado tail dancing through the skies Like a warning But we did not listen Of how the dark brown waters came And full they were of all the fetid lies All the hidden poisons and bloated corpses We had been pushing underground In the sewers, in the sea They came up to the surface, stinking But we did not listen First came the waves of people Then came the waves of water Straggling they came, exhausted Ragged, dirty and heartbroken Windows smashed by golf ball hail stones Lives swept bare by storm and flood Children torn away by gangsters But still we did not listen We gave them food and clothes, those people We let them talk, they rested here a while The waves of people washed right over us But still we did not listen We did not hear them And then the storm wolf came for us Her dark grey tail announced her coming And in our arrogance we stood and filmed her! As she chewed up the land we shared it all on Facebook As her claws tore down walls, tore up streets But she was just the herald And then we had to listen The dark brown waters swept upon us Inexorable as death Then everything we had relied on Was torn from out our unbelieving fists And we cried out 'what is happening?!' The stinking waters hissed and kept on coming And never now they will recede The ruins of the world we built Float past me as I sit here on the roof And wonder, was it really worth it? We did not listen for the sake of Froobs Love Island. Amazon Prime deliveries And cheap T-shirts First came the waves of people Then came the waves of water

And then the storm wolf came for us Her dark grey tail announced her coming And in our arrogance we stood and filmed her! As she chewed up the land we shared it all on Facebook As her claws tore down walls, tore up streets But she was just the herald And then we had to listen The dark brown waters swept upon us Inexorable as death Then everything we had relied on Was torn from out our unbelieving fists And we cried out 'what is happening?!' The stinking waters hissed and kept on coming And never now they will recede The ruins of the world we built Float past me as I sit here on the roof And wonder, was it really worth it? We did not listen for the sake of Froobs Love Island. Amazon Prime deliveries And cheap T-shirts First came the waves of people Then came the waves of water

Late but here's one... 'First Came The Waves'
#PoemsAbout #NaturalReckoning

Thanks @brokenspinearts.bsky.social and @alanparry83.bsky.social

This piece captures Earth’s fragility with clarity and urgency. Phrases like ‘bound in planet-sized tombs’ paint a stark image of consequence, while ‘Earth’s spirit endures, resilient and forgiving’ suggests hope. Powerrful balance of warning & redemption. #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #NaturalReckoning

Unyielding. The line, ‘care of the void’ is a phrase that juxtaposes nurturing with obliteration. The void becomes a chilling guardian, reclaiming what humanity has squandered. We're forced to feel the weight of inevitability in its calm defiance. #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #NaturalReckoning

Striking precision. Phrases like ‘its blade slips under a tightly bound scarf’ and ‘with frigid fingers extracts gasps’ make the chill feel tangible and invasive. I feel its crisp, biting presence still. #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #NaturalReckoning

A searing poem that juxtaposes greed with nature’s resilience. Lines like ‘cash in his pockets, cancer in our cups’ land hard, while ‘the land…recycles mister’s rotting bones’ delivers a grim reckoning. Unflinching. #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #NaturalReckoning

This juxtaposes fleeting joy and uneasy realisation. The line ‘are you winter flowering, by design or distress?’ resonates deeply, and questions beauty born of imbalance. The cherry tree’s response lingers, quietly introspective. Bittersweet. #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #NaturalReckoning

This beautifully charts the journey from burden to liberation. Lines like ‘to dwarf a container ship packed dense’ highlight the weight of material and emotional clutter, while ‘I’m staying naked to welcome the wind’ celebrates unencumbered freedom. #KeepWriting #PoemsAbout #NaturalReckoning

@brokenspinearts.bsky.social .social #NaturalReckoning

Pledge

We the rain ,the wind,
And the sun will take
What was given to you away.
We will flood what was fertile,
Blow down your homes,
Melt your icecaps both
North and south.
And return the Earth
To the care of the void.

The Barber of the Grey Valley Creeping in wearing your crisp white coat Waving your glistening chill Its blade slips under a tightly bound scarf To shave early morning shadow from snug skin So close, your breath reaches deep into lungs And with frigid fingers extracts gasps A spritz with tea-tree mist your last gesture Before creeping in to someone else's day

Hello from Aotearoa New Zealand

Many thanks for the prompt and reading my submission
@alanparry83.bsky.social
@brokenspinearts.bsky.social
#poemsabout
#naturalreckoning
#poetrysky
#poetrycommunity

Thanks so much, Peter! #poemsabout #naturalreckoning

Thanks, Merril. I did my best to stay with the pacing of this. Didn't want to rush the unfolding, but, man, when it picked up speed, all I could do was follow with words! #poemsabout #naturalreckoning @alanparry83.bsky.social

Thank you so much for your feedback! It can be a challenge to lay out a poem with stanzas like this b/c I don't want to lose the momentum. So pleased you affirmed (for me) that the pacing did not stymie. 🙏🦩🙏 #poemsabout #naturalreckoning

My #PoemsAbout #NaturalReckoning took kind of a dark turn.

Thanks for the prompt @alanparry83.bsky.social and @brokenspinearts.bsky.social.

A thought-provoking prompt and challenge, and such a wealth of poems - I am still catching up #NaturalReckoning thank you @alanparry83.bsky.social - here are my thoughts, rather raw and unrefined.
#Poetry

Poem by Roxanne Darling Saying Goodbye to My Merchandised Self (first half) I never imagined I could feel so full of my own soul as to dwarf a container ship packed dense with goods and bads, ferrying stuff I no longer want, and largely, never needed. There were times I thought this impedimenta could salvage me from the trash talk I buried myself in.

Poem by Roxanne Darling Saying Goodbye to My Merchandised Self (second half) Bye bye, layers of masks and shiny distractions. Bye bye, all the roles I once wore to impress others or sell ideas. I’m staying naked to welcome the wind whispering to me. And I like the feeling of freedom on my skin

My contribution relates to the climate costs of excess consumerism:

Saying Goodbye to My Merchandised Self

@alanparry83.bsky.social
#poemsabout
#naturalreckoning

Go here for the accompanying self-portrait photo:
www.iamfortheloveofnature.com/poems/saying...