Poetry Trail Poems
by Judith Bandidt
by Judith Bandidt
After Darkness
the forest is wearing diaphanous night
there moonshadows frolic
dancing with denizens
of the ever-changing darkness
neanderthal ridges rise above
deep-shadowed gullies cowering beneath
where monsters lurch from hidden pools
and sit like fat toads, waiting
eager for morning birds wake the dawn
songs of impatience heard yet unseen
as shadow shapes fade
day breaks ... the sun rises ...
fulfils the promise of the night:
after darkness comes the light
© Judith Bandidt
Forest Breathing
What is this …
this quiet place
where peace pervades
forest floor to canopy--
seeing bushland raw
in roots and rocks
layers and lines
the building blocks of time.
We walk sequestered glades
of dappled shade
where feathered ferns
turn softly to the light.
Mossy logs lie wantonly
across a creek where
tumbled boulders
capture remnant pools.
Hidden spaces we find there
cool, secret places,
habitat envined.
Stop and listen--
not a sound
no birdsong
not even insect hum.
Stillness surrounds
forest giants
dreaming in the sun.
This …
this is where
we dare to lose ourselves
in the silence.
© Judith Bandidt
weathering
from a plain of morning mist
or noonday haze
they rise
clutched to a bosom
moulded just for them
between mountain range and sea
weathering with dignity
each holds its own mystique
different
yet the same
shapes tell a story
from an antique past
some climate change ago
they breathed fire
upon the land
now
cold and silent
seeing out our earthly span
change is evanescent
ephemeral
... immaterial
© Judith Bandidt
Dimension
here where space and time collide
and slide into a new dimension
side by side
where tap and whack
of club on ball disturb the air
on hillsides bare
they watch the flight
the fade
the fall
then all move on
but I see
contours rake the land
where cattle pads once trailed
to forest shade
now space constrained
and time assailed
just remnants stand
images visceral rise
of cattle camps
earthy
damp
a thousand hooves in dust and mud
deep gusty sighs and chewing cuds
steaming hides in summer rain
a story lost
not found again
I see a tail flick in the sun
wisp of movement scarcely there
on hillsides bare
the milking's done
© Judith Bandidt
the forest is wearing diaphanous night
there moonshadows frolic
dancing with denizens
of the ever-changing darkness
neanderthal ridges rise above
deep-shadowed gullies cowering beneath
where monsters lurch from hidden pools
and sit like fat toads, waiting
eager for morning birds wake the dawn
songs of impatience heard yet unseen
as shadow shapes fade
day breaks ... the sun rises ...
fulfils the promise of the night:
after darkness comes the light
© Judith Bandidt
Forest Breathing
What is this …
this quiet place
where peace pervades
forest floor to canopy--
seeing bushland raw
in roots and rocks
layers and lines
the building blocks of time.
We walk sequestered glades
of dappled shade
where feathered ferns
turn softly to the light.
Mossy logs lie wantonly
across a creek where
tumbled boulders
capture remnant pools.
Hidden spaces we find there
cool, secret places,
habitat envined.
Stop and listen--
not a sound
no birdsong
not even insect hum.
Stillness surrounds
forest giants
dreaming in the sun.
This …
this is where
we dare to lose ourselves
in the silence.
© Judith Bandidt
weathering
from a plain of morning mist
or noonday haze
they rise
clutched to a bosom
moulded just for them
between mountain range and sea
weathering with dignity
each holds its own mystique
different
yet the same
shapes tell a story
from an antique past
some climate change ago
they breathed fire
upon the land
now
cold and silent
seeing out our earthly span
change is evanescent
ephemeral
... immaterial
© Judith Bandidt
Dimension
here where space and time collide
and slide into a new dimension
side by side
where tap and whack
of club on ball disturb the air
on hillsides bare
they watch the flight
the fade
the fall
then all move on
but I see
contours rake the land
where cattle pads once trailed
to forest shade
now space constrained
and time assailed
just remnants stand
images visceral rise
of cattle camps
earthy
damp
a thousand hooves in dust and mud
deep gusty sighs and chewing cuds
steaming hides in summer rain
a story lost
not found again
I see a tail flick in the sun
wisp of movement scarcely there
on hillsides bare
the milking's done
© Judith Bandidt
Poems by Judith Bandidt
from 'Some Other Landscape'
from 'Some Other Landscape'
Poems from 'The Soldier on the Stone'
© Judith Bandidt 2014
© Judith Bandidt 2014
For more of Judith's poetry, go to: http://www.JudithBandidt.com
