Tag: geology

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJun 29, 20172:31 pm

No Stony End

Young conifer
Which set down roots
Some few years ago
But now exposed
By desert rains
And so it seems
To cling to Earth
While off beyond
The hoodoos laugh
At upstart pine

You see
The mighty columns say
This once was plain
Withered away
Exposing us
The roots of Earth
Soon enough
More rain will come
Erode the land
You’re rooted on
Until you fall
Then come to rest
As dust beneath
Our hoodoo feet

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJan 8, 20177:00 am

Whytecliff and Ferry, Whytecliff Park, West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Rugged ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #71

It was an old, bitter place
Grizzled and hard

A land made
Of strife
And loss
And longing

Chipped rugged
With malice
And petulance

The sky
Whispered menace
And even a calm sea
Cut rough on the keel
Like sun-baked leather

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJan 3, 201711:23 am

Divine Sunset

I clamber up
The edge of the world
Turn to see the world below
Awash in the light of a failing sun
Fallen far below the dais
On which I stand
Like a god
Lord of all below me
Conqueror of the heavens

A car parks beside mine
Released from its confines
A small boy, about five
Runs over to stand beside me
For a moment surveying our domain

Poetry by Patrick JenningsDec 22, 201611:27 am

Sandstone Domes, Watarrka National Park, Kings Canyon, Northern Territory, Australia

Fairy Tale Lands

I live in a world
Of fairy tale lands
I thought only possible
In the imaginations of
Novelists and filmmakers

Until I went exploring

Poetry by Patrick JenningsNov 7, 20169:44 pm

Bright Angel

Down into the depths
Of this world
Of my spirit
Plunged the Bright Angel

Bringing light
To darkness
Bringing purpose
To doubt
Bringing meaning
To listlessness

Poetry by Patrick JenningsNov 5, 20169:33 am

Hikers and Hoodoos, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, United States of America

Looking for Myself

Sometimes
When I look for myself in the world
I’m very hard to find

Not because I am so small
But because existence
Is very, very big

So I remind myself
I am not in the world
I am not of the world

I am the world
And it is me

Poetry by Patrick JenningsNov 3, 201611:45 pm

Uluru, Ayer's Rock, Northern Territory, Australia

The Land Which Fell on its Side

One day
Geologically speaking
The land rose up
Then fell back to Earth
Landing on its side
Where it took a long
Long
Very long
Rest
Even geologically speaking

And as it lies there
Like a cat on blanket
Napping in the afternoon sun
Coming through the window
Mother Nature soothes
Its hard, rigid body
With a massage of
Wind, rain and
Savage heat

Poetry by Patrick JenningsSep 28, 20168:13 pm

The Stone in the Lake

Oh I
Who felt the contractions
Of a world in birth
I carry the experience of aeons
The history of Earth

A solid from liquid
Carved and shattered
Cracks refilled by molten rock
Uplifted and fractured
Sundered and separated
Tumbled and rolled

Now here
Settled gently
On the shore
Of a still lake
On a quiet dawn
To marvel at the fleeting existence
Of the things that live
Even the tree

Poetry by Patrick JenningsSep 7, 20168:27 pm

Buttes, Near Canyonlands National Park, Utah, United States of America

Sandstone Clouds

The buttes
Like clouds
Floating over the valley
Bringing a storm of stonefall

If only I had the eyes
Of old father time
I could see the rock raging
Dropping aeons of boulders
Upon the valley floor
Like hailstones
From sandstone clouds

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJul 9, 20162:55 pm

Solid Rock, Zion National Park, Utah, United States of America

Stolid or Fluid

Hard
Solid
Stolid
Resolute

All such admirable
Qualities of stone
Though I prefer

Soft
Supple
Flowing
Fluid