Poems by Laura Sanders

You're the grand , old man of the woods,
no one knows for how long you have stood,
Only your circular rings will reveal,
the length of time you've overhung that field.

Reaching out with twisted brown arms,
hoping you will come to no sudden harm,
with bright glowing canopy,
You're a friend to the bird, owl and bee.

And seeing the folk come and go,
whilst weathering the rain, sun and snow,
Bet you could tell many an interesting story,
some happy, others plain gory.

Trying not to laugh at it all,
stretching skywards proud and tall,
grasping,  desperate for earth given life.
Yet providing a safe haven for all creatures running rife.

With ridged ,hoary, flaky bark,
and wavy cut leaves so green yet dark,
A tree filled with many writhing "snakes",
With you the countryside seems a more interesting place.

Swaying about  in hostile, strong winds,
Oaks are my  favourite - they will always win.....

The Dandelion clock.

           A perfectly formed ball of crowded seeds,
           Yet considered by all, an intrusive type of weed,
                    Nature's own homegrown clock,
                    It waits for breezes to unlock,
        Or waits for the whims of you and me,
         To blow air from our lips and set the " fairies " free.

        A bold and yellow flowering head,
           Heralds summer has arrived,
           Long, green, rabbit shaped leaves freshly protrude,
              Denotes it has survived.

              The wind has blown the parachutes
                    The seeds no longer stay,
                  But gradually caught in drafts of air,
            They simply fly away.

            To  land  in hedges, fields and lawns,
            I always see them there,
              Trapped in corners of my home
            And even in my hair!

Coughs, colds, viruses and flu,
Bugs everywhere for me and you.
To catch us out in wind and rain,
Illness is here once again.

Sniffin' and sneezin', hankies at hand,
But then Coronavirus came to our land.
It infected the old, young, woman and man.
Its centre was a place called Wuhan.

It came from animals it was said.
By early February 2020, 700 were dead.
"Try not to panic, it's not a pandemic,"
But other countries got it,
Whilst others were quarantined on a cruise ship.

Brits left China in great haste
And were tested for the virus before making their way,
To the ends of the earth, mankind has been won,
Still we don't know how far it has gone...?

We've conquered space travel, built vast cities,
Internet and missiles, yet it's a pity
That we cannot cure the common cold
And the Coronavirus that's invaded our world.

We cannot cure the dying and sick
With pills or a needle's sharp prick.
We can only isolate victims and hope it will go.
Just another problem, another cruel blow.

Busy bee, busy bee, don't you ever stop?!
Hummin' and a buzzin' into the next tall flower you hop,
Crawling into the centre, and down a flower tube,
Trying to find sweet nectar, as sweet as sugar cubes,

Yellow, black striped bodies of fine soft hair,
Please don't vanish from our lands, we really all do care.
Growing flowers and plants to tempt you all, it's true,
That we cannot do without you, we'll  soon all look like fools.

Special pollinators in our plant based world,
You lull me to sleep , you're a precious pearl.
Honey bees, Bumble , Carder bees, all different kinds,
Off you fly once more , your stay's  too short, I find!

My darling, remember those days long ago,
When we both held hands through rain and snow?
We cheerfully chatted and were full of fresh life.
How positive we were in our strife.

We never looked back; we kept going on.
Even when it poured, the sun still shone,
Because we both had a precious thing, 
Love for one another; it made our hearts sing!

Young lovers, we rode each new wave,
Faced up to our challenges, both tireless and brave.
But alas, the years have caught up on us.
Weak and old, we no longer make a fuss.

We sit by the fire and grumpily stare,
No longer hold hands, too tired to care.
Mumbling and grumbling at things on the Box,
Old and withered, battered by life's knocks.

Yet I stare at you sitting nearby.
Yes, we still have it, a twinkling in the eye!

The population is exploding and it tries to meet man's needs,
Forest trees are being cut down, which started from mere seeds.
Cattle ranches  are needed to supply meat to fast- food chains,
But nature tries to bounce back , but is destroyed time and time again.

Animals in the jungles, are running for their lives,
Butterflies and Bees are flushed from natural hives,
Monkeys no longer able to climb up high in the trees,
No longer swing and play, no longer can roam free.

Roads cut across ,swathes of earth's great lands,
Houses built at man's cruel,  labouring hands,
Rail networks destroy natures chosen paths,
Selfishness and greed the cause and man's unending wrath.

Climate change is the greatest of all these man-made threats,
Globally, the climate is hotting up. mankind faced with the debts,
Overfishing with fishstocks all  completely used up,
The natural balance is ruined, man uses far too much.

Soil degeneration, with loss of biodiversity,
even when man has studied and gone to university,
Everywhere destruction, everywhere is death,
Raping of the land, the land I love the best.