Jungle Influencers
Poem inspired by the word transformation
The turtle climbs the tree
Pretending it’s a floating butterfly
Scrolling up each branch she can see
Fluorescent wings whizzing by
In the jungle she has the time
To think her life is an utter bore
If she only had at least a dime
She could grow wings and soar
Beneath a shrinking apple
Was one trying to sing
About her fate in a pupa chapel
The turtle stayed to swing
I will be gone tomorrow
The butterfly says as with a smile
There is no need to feel any sorrow
As I know my life was worthwhile
There was no time to attempt
To be something she was not
Being loved as herself is a rare moment
Following a fluttering paw by a yacht
The turtle’s confidence recovers
Where flowing water is surplus
It is here where she discovers
The turtle has her own purpose
About the Creator
Chloe Gilholy
Former healthcare worker and lab worker from Oxfordshire. Author of ten books including Drinking Poetry and Game of Mass Destruction. Travelled to over 20 countries.
Keep reading
More stories from Chloe Gilholy and writers in Poets and other communities.
A Flower Song
Apparently the Aztecs, Toltecs, Chichimecs and other Mexica were crazy about poetry. Despite the book-burning, slaughter, and epidemics that characterized the early stages of the Spanish conquest of the empires of Mexico, some hundreds of poems from the height of their tradition come down to us in Classical Nahuatl, preserved by Nahua and Spanish scholars of the 16th century. One of the most famous poets, Nezahualcoyotl, was a sage-king who opposed the cult of human sacrifice associated with Tezcatlipoca, God of the Smoking Mirror, and favored Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent. Flowers and feathers were the favorite offering of the Plumed Serpent. Moreover, flowers and feathers are a metaphor for poetry. Individual words, scattered petals, the down of tropical birds. The temples of blood sacrifice could be transformed into temples of flower and song. A sublimated offering to the Heart of Earth and the Heart of Sky encapsulated in the Classical Nahuatl kenning for poetry: in xōchitl in cuīcatl, meaning, "the flower and the song." The following poem is part of a longer work, and is in a state of flux, so take the waters as they flow:
By Rob Angeli5 days ago in Poets
Comments
There are no comments for this story
Be the first to respond and start the conversation.