A poem about forests

[The Straight Story]

Spirit of The Woods

He sits quietly listening to the sounds of the woods
No fire burns this night
Only a lone candle to read by
Pages turn
Seeking

Solitary in the cathedral of trees he prays
Enveloping darkness surrounding him
Protecting him
As he searches for the light

Closing his eyes in worship he lets go
And feels the life
Trees bend gently in the breeze
Whispering gently to his ears
Let go

His body slips silently to the ground
As though he were a monk in a monastery
Not a whisper
Flesh meets ground, head gently resting on pine needles
And he listens
To God

Pine needles drift to the ground
Like the tears of nature
A leaf drifts noiselessly to his naked chest
To his heart
Deep breath in, Scents of Eden

A lone bug traverses his body
Sounds of unseen creatures slipping through the night
His breathing becomes shallow
As he becomes one with his surroundings
With Nature


Lulled to sleep gently by the breeze
He dreams
Soul slides from his body
To see what the flesh cannot
To learn

The spirit looks down upon the sleeping flesh
So free now
It walks among the pines silently
In peace

He sees it then
A light burning bright
The light of a pure soul
An Angel
White hair, clear blue eyes like the sky
A smile so soft
A feeling of peace and love overwhelms him

Seek and Ye shall find
The words simply existed
Unspoken
Thou hast sought me
My love, Wisdom, and Peace
The words cease
They came not from the Angel
They just were
Like the breeze

The Angel drifts to him
Ground lighting up beneath it, Around it
Like a willow the wisp he thought
Only much brighter

I will show you, it speaks to him
A voice like a stream pure and clean
No evil has ever crossed it’s lips
Or heart
A voice so pure tears would flow if they could
It’s arms stretch wide before him
Light floods out, pure white holy light
And the forest absorbs it
Reflects it
And all is revealed to his eyes

Life
The force of it blows through him like a shockwave
Every inch of teeming with the force of existence
God walked here, His very words created it
The Spirit Spoke
And there was life

An Image in his mind
A city
Concrete, steel, asphalt
Cold, devoid of life
Created by man
Hollow

He sees their arrogance
While they revel in their towers of pride
Reaching to the heavens
Yet so far from it

The Spirit of life from the woods encompasses him
Swallows his soul
And he becomes one with God’s creation
A pure joy, love, such as never felt before
It flows through him
And he lets go

I am that I am saith The Lord Your God
This before you is my work
My creation
Ye stand upon Holy ground
When Ye are here know that I am here with thee
This is my church
Wilt thou tear it down before me?
A whirlwind blows hard
Pine needles fly, leaves, grass
The trees bend in worship
The Angel looks into his eyes
It’s outstretched arms swing shut
As it’s hands slam together he is thrust away
Speeding he flies towards his body
In an instant he is reunited with flesh
And sits bolt upright

Cool breeze on flesh
The last sight he remembers floods back into his mind
A man, so peaceful and loving
Arms outstretched
Upon a cross
Of weeping wood

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

1. Wow

thank you.

Beautiful.

[The Straight Story]

2. Thank you my friend, wrote it in the Tehachapi Mountains

My x and I were sitting there and she was telling me how spiritual the redwoods to her, how they were like a cathedral in a sense and asked me to write her a poem about it.

Wrote a lot of poetry in those days...

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

3. It was very moving to me

thanks again for sharing that part of your soul.

[The Straight Story]

4. Here is one of a similar vein for you

Was inspired by a picture of an old hotel near the beach in northern CA:

Hallowed Halls

Moonlight
Waves crash hard upon the cliff
The cliff of the house
The place of those Hallowed Halls

Children sleep this night in it’s many rooms
A feeling of being watched taunting them
Wood creaks gently in a breeze
A warm glow seeping through the wood

Nights go by
Years
A restless spirit waifs about the halls
Of her hallowed home

Untouched by time she walks
In her home
Alone and quiet
Until this night

Serenity as they sleep
She watches, smiling at the children
Such joy they have brought her
She stands over a little girl
Memories of her childhood

A smell comes to her like a spirit
Beckoning her
Fear
Smoke waifs through the halls
Fire, here in her hallowed home

She is instantly there
And helpless
Flames lick the ceiling of the kitchen
The room below them
The children

The wood of the house cries out to her
Spirit meets it as she rages through the halls
Touching every bit of the wood
Calling to it

Life long ago thought lost
Gone from the depths of the forest
Erupts into her spirit
And she glows with a light not seen by human eyes
The fire grows

Spirit flies into a child’s room
Her little girl
She awakens at the light
And stares

Before the little girl stands the woman
Hair flowing in a spiritual wind
Dress clinging to her, flapping about
Knowing eyes

“Run, leave this house now!”
She jumps from bed and runs yelling down the hall
Unsure why, she yells of fire
Not of the ghost

People awaken
The blaze has grown
And the house is threatened
She watches as they all leave
Unable to fight the heat and smoke

Her house will die
And she with it
Spirit weeps
Aches

Aimlessly people mill about
Glow of the moon on them
Shouts
Hugs from parents
And she stands alone in the house

Wind picks up
Rages
A breeze breaks through the real world
To hers

She floats to a balcony and looks out to the sea
Waves far below
Too far
And the wind grows

Memories long gone come to her
A mighty wave reaches up the cliff
To her balcony

There before her eyes
Illuminated in the moonlight
The water stands still
And for the first time in over a hundred years
She sees Him

Arms spread wide he calls the sea to her
And the waves obey
With the force of an ancient love
Water comes forth from the sea
From him

It envelopes the house
Crashing into it
And rushes to the fire
Hissing and smoke pour out
And their eyes meet

Long ago lovers
He built his ship from their place
Deep in the woods
And set sail

Their hands had crafted it together
They would travel together
This man and his lover
To see the world

Then they came
To her forest
Their home
Trying to stop them
A bullet through her heart

Falling she grabbed an old oak
And died there
Enraged he had killed them all
And wept for days over her

He buried her then
In her trees
And left in his boat
To his sea he so dreamed of
To the crashing rocks
To his death

Years gone by
And new men came
They took the trees
And made this house
And with the trees came her spirit

He looked at her
A wet hand reached out
Taking it she pulled him from the waves
To her house
To her heart

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

5. Sorry

too creepy. I have nightmares about fires.

[The Straight Story]

6. Ok, how about this one :)

Mist of his dreams

Eyelids heavy, drifting off
To a darkness
On a cool autumn night
Pillow soft beneath his head
Body warmed, blankets on the bed

Hours pass on encompassed in sleep
Quiet breathing
Then he sees
He dreams

Darkness, and a dream like mist
Gravestones covered in weeds
Wet with the night
Uncontrollably he walks

A woman calls him
Not his name
Not now anyway he thinks
But to that name he responds

She stands alone
Through her he sees a lone headstone
Flowing gown, Victorian in style
As is her stature
She smiles

Dark eyes
Flowing hair
Blown by a wind he does not feel
He stares

The scene changes
Now indoors
A lovely house
Beautifully adorned

She sits in a chair laughing
Smiling
At him
She is sewing
He looks
And she hides it from his view
A mischievous smile
A glint in her eyes
A flash of light
And they are dancing

Love fills his heart
Deep down to his soul
He smiles happily to her
Not knowing anymore that he is dreaming

Now they are outside once again
Walking
Holding hands in the moonlight
Talking
Of their love

Now again the grave
He stands in it alone
Looking down
At her headstone
He starts to cry
Sobbing now
He awakens

Staring at the ceiling
Entranced by a dream
Moved
Somewhere he feels he knows her

A kiss from a woman
And he shakes it off
Cuddles her
Then dresses for work
Just a dream

Part 2

Sitting outside
Smoke break
Leaves rustling
Smoke like a mist drifts
Like the mists of a dream

He watches the hustle and bustle
People coming in and going out
Lunch time
Another day in his life
And he feels empty

Somewhere in his heart he feels it
A tug, deep and hard
For a dream
For her
Who was she?

A face he has never seen
Until last night
But still it seems
He has known her
Knows her

His mind races back to the dream
To her face
Her dress
Her name
Elizabeth

The day carries on
AS does his life
Days go by
Dreams of her come and go

The weekend
Home alone
She is home, Not feeling well
Restless he rustles about
Until night

Recurring dream
He awakens
Something about it
Something he knows

To his closet
On a quest
A hope
To another place of memories
His photo collection


Many trips
Many places of his life
Travels, mostly alone
Boxes of pictures
Albums of memories

Friends past
Family reunions
Parks
States, most all of them

The past flies by him
Only a momentary stop here and there
Some memories tug hard
Smile on his face

Maine
A summer there
Lovely
Pictures, so many of them
One after the other
Then he stops

There
From his dream
His pulse pounding
He stares hard, long
One picture
Small
He shakes

The cemetery
From his dreams
Vivid
For a long time he sits
Numb

Impulsive
He has always been that way
Grabbing some clothes
Camera
The picture

A call to his boss
Emergency out of state
I will be back in a week
Like it or not
Hastily packed
He leaves
For a dream

Part 3

Freedom
From the world
On the road he smiles
His girlfriend thought he was nuts
But she is used to his ways

Hours of driving
Afraid to sleep
To admit to himself
It was all a dream

Somewhere in his mind
He finds hope
Buried deep
Or at least
Wishful thinking

Maine
Mid-day
Driving all over
Trying to remember
It had been years

The day wears on
He gives in to his body
And finds a motel
Sleeps

Dreams
He walks in the cemetery
Calling for her
She comes to him

They talk of things he cannot remember
She shows him something
Her necklace
He had given it to her
She hugs him
Tears in her eyes
In his
He awakens
Daylight

Shaken, crying
He gets up from his bed
His haunted mind shakes off sleep
And he goes
To find
Her

Driving alone
So alone
Searching once again
For his OZ
That special somewhere
Something

He finds it
Near noon, Warm sun
Cool Breeze
Like a dream it appears
He slows
Stops
As does his heart

He sits there for some time
Staring
Not even thinking
Just existing
Hand on the door
It opens

A surreal feeling grips him
A tinge of excitement courses through his veins
And fear
That it is all for nothing

Walking into the Cemetery
Leaves rustling in the wind
No one here
Nothing but the dead
And his life

He stops cold
Memories of a dream
They flood back
Recognizing the layout
Dream of photograph?
Get a grip he thinks

Now he walks
AS he did in his dreams
He sees things
As he saw them
Unswerving he steps
One foot in front of the other
Marching

Marching to his future
Or to her past
Or to insanity
An Angel towers
It’s shadow cast upon the ground
A grave stone

Hers
He can tell it before he gets there
His feet become lead
But still he marches on
To the stone

He stands in front of it now
Kneels down
Angel’s shadow cooling him
Comforting him
A solitary name
And two dates

Elizabeth Franklin
1840-1866
A simple inscription
Nothing more
Bare, like his soul
Into his pocket he reaches
And takes out a single red rose
‘Where are you my love?
He drops it to her grave

Tears come
Memories of the dreams
That look in her eyes
Pleading
Missing him

A voice calls his name
A woman’s voice
Familiar
It breaks through the breeze
He stiffens
A cold chill runs down his spine
His whole body tingles
Shakes

He does not look up
Does not turn around
She speaks his name once more
Tears in his eyes now
Is this too a dream?
God, let it be real

With all his strength he stands
His heart pound fast
Hard
Near weeping he turns
Turns to face
Her

Neither move
She wears a simple dress
Long black flowing hair
Sad eyes
But glad

‘Elizabeth’
He whispers it to himself
She smiles
And walks to him
Neither speak

She reaches to his face slowly
Her eyes lock on his
Intent
Staring deep into him
She touches his face
Cradles it
Cold touch
But a deep warmth reaches his very soul
She whispers to him then
One word
As she stares into him
‘Remember’

Like a flood his mind fills
He is with her
Laughing
Hugging
Now they are crying
She is dressed as in the dream
And now he sees himself
A gray uniform
A musket
A federal hat on his head

He sees her at the train station
Crying
Waving
She fades
Then terror
A battlefield
Pain
Then Darkness

A man drives by
And wonders to himself
Why a man stands alone in the cemetery
Holding the air
Shrugging it off as something sad
He drives on

He steps back from her
And he freezes
He sees right through her now
‘I am waiting for you my prince’
‘Come to me’
‘I miss you’

He falls to his knees sobbing
She wraps her ghost like arms about his head
Cradling him
Cold fingers in his hair
‘I live my sweet’
She backs away and looks down to him
‘Come to me’

‘Where, where are you?’
‘Drive, you will know’
Her sad eyes haunt him
And she is gone

For what seems hours he kneels there
Eyes closed
Crying
Then it hits him
A drive, a despair
A hope
He jumps up
And runs to the car

Driving, and driven
Over hills
Through a small town
Feeling her close to him

Then he sees it
Brakes slam hard
He rips from the car
Shouting
‘I am coming Elizabeth’
And he runs faster then he has
Ever
Into the Hospital

Without asking where she was
He bolts up the steps
To the second floor
Rushing down the hall
He comes to a room

Without stopping
Certain of his heart
He opens the door
And there she lay
His Elizabeth

Tubes, breathing machines
Eyes closed
A nurse by her side
He stops

She had been in a car accident
A coma now
For a month
When the dreams had started

Slowly he walks to her
The nurse leaves them alone
His hands touch her face
Cold
He takes her hand in his
And whispers to her
Through his tears
‘I love you’

His lips meet hers
His tears fall upon her
A gasp
She sucks in air hard
Eyelids flicker
And she stares
AT him

A smile
Eyes fill with her tears
Weak, but strong with love
She pulls her arms up
To him
Forever