Nature Class Poem by Sonny Rainshine

Much like slender zebras queued up,
an infantry in black and white camouflage,
the birch trees in the distance
motioned to me with palsied gestures,
green hands tembling,
torsos imperceptably bent.

I will teach you a lesson
in grace, poise, and flexibility,
they seem to say, though in a tone
I could scarcely hear above the wind.

I will teach you to look at black and white
while seeing the whole spectrum,
and the gradients too, in the sky
and in the black earth wherein my roots
seek support and nourishment.

When I reached the hilltop,
removing my shoes
and entering the classroom
with the blue domed ceiling
and the floor carpeted
in last year’s leaves,
my mind unfolded like a flower.