Plants Poems

FROM off a hill whose concave womb reworded
A plaintful story from a sistering vale,
My spirits to attend this double voice accorded,
And down I laid to list the sad-tuned tale;
Ere long espied a fickle maid full pale,
Tearing of papers, breaking rings a-twain,
Storming her world with sorrow's wind and rain.
...

You're in this dream of cotton plants.
You raise a hoe, swing, and the first weeds
Fall with a sigh. You take another step,
Chop, and the sigh comes again,
...

desert sucks upper water to store in the deep
trees, plants, herbs and grasses are about to die
sunshine reflects on mirages there
mirages elude and mislead the travelers,
...

when God created love he didn't help most
when God created dogs He didn't help dogs
when God created plants that was average
when God created hate we had a standard utility
...

Less time than it takes to say it, less tears than it takes to die; I've taken account of everything,
there you have it. I've made a census of the stones, they are as numerous as my fingers and some
...

FAREWELL, thou little Nook of mountain-ground,
Thou rocky corner in the lowest stair
Of that magnificent temple which doth bound
...

Earliest morning, switching all the tracks
that cross the sky from cinder star to star,
coupling the ends of streets
to trains of light.
...

My father is a quiet man
With sober, steady ways;
For simile, a folded fan;
His nights are like his days.
...

Earth, Ocean, Air, belovèd brotherhood!
If our great Mother has imbued my soul
With aught of natural piety to feel
Your love, and recompense the boon with mine;
...

[Book 1]
I am like,
They tell me, my dear father. Broader brows
Howbeit, upon a slenderer undergrowth
...

I love to rise in a summer morn
When the birds sing on every tree;
The distant huntsman winds his horn,
And the skylark sings with me.
...

Always for the first time
Hardly do I know you by sight
You return at some hour of the night to a house at an angle to my window
A wholly imaginary house
...

My house is near a sea
The sea is my neighbour
I understand the sea
But the sea does not understand me,
...

Orpheus with his lute made trees
And the mountain tops that freeze
...

Coming out of home I see some land and much water all around
Full with wonderful animals, plants, myriad of natural objects
Some I can name and some I can't, some near and some are so far
Some open, some covered, some sweet again some are so bitter,
...

In these deep solitudes and awful cells,
Where heav'nly-pensive contemplation dwells,
And ever-musing melancholy reigns;
What means this tumult in a vestal's veins?
...

Rain beats down on the window pane
As the flood gates of Heaven suddenly open
It is pouring out in torrential flow
Like a Reservoir, all at once, broken
...

`You know Orion always comes up sideways.
Throwing a leg up over our fence of mountains,
And rising on his hands, he looks in on me
Busy outdoors by lantern-light with something
...

AS I sat alone, by blue Ontario's shore,
As I mused of these mighty days, and of peace return'd, and the dead
that return no more,
...

We're aware
We're aware that between us there's
A haze of ignorance
Our steps but tread the path of our search
...

In Brooklyn Heights, where the city meets the sky,
Professor Emily spoke, her voice a lullaby.
A loft adorned with green, a sanctuary found,
She spoke of love for plants, a love profound.
...

Live plants in an aquarium fulfills the desire of having a natural and stable environment for fish and amusement and delight for the pet owners.
These plants act as natural filters in the fish tanks. In order to grow, plants in the aquarium require nitrogen and phosphates. These are abundantly available for plants in any water tank with fish. A low nitrate environment is helpful for healthy fish therefore, it's a win-win situation for healthy fish and plants.
Algae is one of the major concerns for some fish owners. Whereas this is controlled by either cleaning water, or algae regularly. Adequate plantations in the aquarium may reduce the chance of having algae substantially.
Plants in an aquarium make sure that an ecosystem is established in the fish tanks. Plants take care of filtration and fish provide nitrogen and phosphate for the plants. Once it is established then you may have to look after the food and observe changes in water and control light.
...

Trees were my childhood friends (along with neighbor, Helen) .
Now trees, and other South Carolina plants, have me YELLIN'.
Oh, it may not be outloud-yelling; I keep some feelings inside,
But, my displeasure with some plants here, I'll not from you hide.
...

The flowers are the 'ears' of plants
Listening for the buzz of bees.
The plants take comfort in the chance
Of increased opportunities
...

There were liberal field, golden paddy, mild touch of south breeze
And there were you, your beautiful smiles with opening mind

There were jackfruit, plum, mango, palm, and betel-nut trees on the bank of the pond.
...

Think about those worms, that wiggle through the land,
they loosen up the soil, so the roots of plants, can expand,

Those plants give off oxygen, to support life on this earth each day,
...

At all the pretty plants, they did stare.
But of these plants, they had best beware.
They were about to go on a death ride.
By plants sprayed with a mysterious pesticide.
...

Rain is the kiss of Sky with its lips of clouds to Earth to live;
Live all beings on Earth with its plants giving energy to all;
All live long by the love between Sky and Earth by rains of kiss;
Kiss is the seal of love with rain to produce off springs ever!
...

- Thanks, Isabel, for the insert on "Dung Beetles in the New South Africa: Is There No Way Forward?" But now back to this morning's programme on how to improve your garden, brought to you live here in Randburg. I figured we'd take a bit of a different angle this week, so I've got with me Mkhomazi Dindi, known to his friends as Dick - here he is - and he's a chap who really knows his stuff! - he's working on a Ph.D. on African Knowledges and Biome Diversity at Wits, so I'm going to ask him to share his experiences with us because we're looking at herbs and plants usually associated with African traditional medicine, some of them probably unknown to you out there. I'd then like Dick to name the plants I show you in his language. Mkhom, um, Dick, so which do you speak? Southern Sotho or Xhosa might be best.

- I don't speak either, to be honest. I grew up where they knew a lot of things. My mother was Tsonga and my father was Zulu, but he had lived in Polokwane as a boy, so I speak a few things all mixed up together . . .

- Polokwane?

- You used to call it Pietersburg.

- Oh, really? Well, Dick, we've begun to fathom that we probably haven't given nearly enough attention to the wealth of tribal lore on plants. One of the most exciting things in the New South Africa is that it's becoming available to us, don't you think?

- Yes, sure. I first came across these things when my parents sent me away from Soweto to my uncle in KwaZulu, who was a herbalist. He went out gathering plants all the time, which then seemed strange to me. I asked him why did he do that, and he explained about the situation. I remember . . .

- yes, I see, okay. But let's get to the point. Here's an example of Helichrysum odoratissimum. Your people know it as Imphepho, isn't that correct?

- You're right. xiTsonga-speakers on the other hand call it . . .

- you listeners out there probably know it as ‘Everlasting', or by its Afrikaans name, ‘Kooigoed'. It's a member of the Asteraceae family; and is sometimes confused with this other plant I have here, Achryocline steoptera. It's . . .

- yes, that one, it's also Imphepho: we burn it in potsherds when we have to . . .

- very aromatic, and used mainly for bedding because it's a strong repellent . . .

- but wait: in my opinion, I can say this is not correct. Maybe, a little, but we also use the leaves and twigs for coughs and for putting on wounds and women who perfume themselves. My uncle said . . .

- no, Dick, not actually. Your uncle was thinking of Helichrysum nudifolium. Mind you, to be fair, I do know that once in a while it's used in ritual incenses to invoke the good will of the ancestors - or what you people call the izindlozi -

- amadlozi . . .

- amadlozi, sorry. As I was saying, used for ritual cleansings . . .

- and for trances . . .

- and for trances, of course; an informant in Maputaland once told me that. Apologies to all of you out there, who'll maybe understand our dilemma when you grasp that there are over two hundred species of Helichrysum in our country. The silvery leaves and little yellow flower-heads don't look like much, but they are attractive in a bowl and gosh they smell exquisite.

- My uncle would cure fevers and headaches with it . . .

- really, Dick? Yes, well, if you say so, of course . . .

- We also use the roots. Anyway, for myself I came to realise . . .

- these species grow all over, and usage depends more on local availability than on any preference for a particular species . . .

- but there are other things . . .

- goodness, have we run out of airtime so soon? So, friends, here it is: use it as a decorative plant but be careful because it spreads quite rapidly. Well-drained soil, please, mixed with a scoop of ordinary sand. Plant it in full sun or partial shade but never, never, never over-water, unless you want to fuss with old man fungus! . . . that's our hour of chat and inserts flown by again. Watch out for next week's slot when I'll be discussing "How to Landscape Small Townhouse Gardens in the Tuscan Style". For now, all Isabel and I - and, of course, our special guest - can do is wish you - as always - a relaxing weekend as you potter about in God's fresh air. Only remember: think indigenous!
...