Two Poems:
America the Beautiful Again by Richard Blanco
By the Roots by Barbara Kingsolver
A Poem:
Florida Schoolday
by ljkemp
“Be nice to the trees and the plants”
We walked across campus to lunch
everyday a journey from the two-story
add-on at the back of the perimeter
A school, at once a relic of the 1950’s,
Florida open-air campus
and a sign of modern, more sinister times
a two story, easier to secure building.
We walked. They dragged their hands
along the sides of the buildings the way
children do. And into the bushes, yanking
leaves, pieces of leaves from the plants
tearing out the hair of the world.
“How would you feel if everyone who
passed by you pulled on your hair?
Be nice to the trees and the plants.”
We are lucky. A few minutes of open air
a time to visit the blue skies, the chirping birds
and the plant life.
Look up, listen. Take a deep breath in.
We are lucky to be alive, to be here in
Florida during winter.
Every explanation of praise I belted out
until my throat hurt.
Aren’t we lucky?
Italicized words: First italicized line is from the Kingsolver poem, the second is from the Blanco poem.
