Author: waynevisser

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Lily of the Valley

I know a secret valley
Which fire has lain bare
But contours now exposed
Still hide a beauty rare

For deep within the shadows
Beneath the silver moon
When all the earth is black
It is her time to bloom

She rises from the ashes
Laced in scarlet red
A dancing tongue of flame
Upon the valley bed

She smiles upon the landscape
As hope is rediscovered
In the midst of desolation
She’s one of God’s beloved

Wayne Visser © 2004

Book

Wishing Leaves: Favourite Nature Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together nature poems by Wayne Visser, celebrating the diversity, beauty and ever-changing moods of our planet. The anthology includes many old favourites like “I Think I Was a Tree Once” and “A Bug’s Life”, as well as brand new poems like “Monet’s Dream” and “The Environmentalist”. Then as we turned our faces to the moon / Our hands entwined, our hearts in sync, in tune / We felt the fingers of the silken breeze / And made our wishes on the falling leaves / A gust of wind set off a whispered sigh / Among the trees that leaned against the sky.  Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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Caged

An animal caged may be well cared for
Protected and pampered, admired and fed
But can what’s gained ever make up for
What’s lost if the spirit of freedom is dead?

We all pay a price when we try to insure for
Tempestuous weather and fortune’s ebb tide
But can you find a replacement value for
A creative soul that has withered inside?

In a cluttered world there’s no longer space for
Vast open plains without fences and walls
But can you cage the instinctive passion for
An untamed life where wildness still calls?

Wayne Visser © 2004

Book

Wishing Leaves: Favourite Nature Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together nature poems by Wayne Visser, celebrating the diversity, beauty and ever-changing moods of our planet. The anthology includes many old favourites like “I Think I Was a Tree Once” and “A Bug’s Life”, as well as brand new poems like “Monet’s Dream” and “The Environmentalist”. Then as we turned our faces to the moon / Our hands entwined, our hearts in sync, in tune / We felt the fingers of the silken breeze / And made our wishes on the falling leaves / A gust of wind set off a whispered sigh / Among the trees that leaned against the sky.  Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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Penguin Dream

Out of the dreamy ocean blue
A penguin glides into my view
With simple grace and body sleek
Wave-surfing every trough and peak

I long to know her secret ways
I watch her as she dives and plays
I see her battling stormy seas
And basking in the summer breeze

The day she lands upon my shore
She seems more lovely than before
With sparking eyes that glint of fun
She glistens in the winter sun

Her beauty takes my breath away
I only hope that she can stay
So much to share, to give and take
I’m dreaming that I’ll never wake

Wayne Visser © 2003

Book

Wishing Leaves: Favourite Nature Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together nature poems by Wayne Visser, celebrating the diversity, beauty and ever-changing moods of our planet. The anthology includes many old favourites like “I Think I Was a Tree Once” and “A Bug’s Life”, as well as brand new poems like “Monet’s Dream” and “The Environmentalist”. Then as we turned our faces to the moon / Our hands entwined, our hearts in sync, in tune / We felt the fingers of the silken breeze / And made our wishes on the falling leaves / A gust of wind set off a whispered sigh / Among the trees that leaned against the sky.  Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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Earth, Air, Fire, Water

I am Earth:
Grounded and mounded
And moulded in clay
Secret and shrouded
And hidden from day

Womb am I:
Life is seeded and sprouted
And spread out in green
I am fertile and febrile –
The guardian unseen

I am Air:
Wispy and misty
And swirling in space
Fleeting and flirting
And moving with grace

Breath am I:
Life is shaped and spoken
And scattered in white
I am ethereal, inspiring –
The guardian of flight

I am Water:
Flowing and knowing
And fresh with surprise
Snaking and slaking
And shifting disguise

Thirst am I:
Life is suckled and sated
And swaddled in blue
I am replenishing, forgiving –
The guardian of new

I am Fire:
Burning and yearning
And purging the night
Forging and flashing
And shedding all light

Heat am I:
Life is sparked and stoked
And flame-licked in gold
I am passion, transcendence
The guardian of soul

We are Earth, we are Air
We are Water and Fire
And the mission we share
Is to quench life’s desire

The message we bring
Is the wisdom we keep:
That we four merge to one
In the love that you seek

Wayne Visser © 2013

Book

Wishing Leaves: Favourite Nature Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together nature poems by Wayne Visser, celebrating the diversity, beauty and ever-changing moods of our planet. The anthology includes many old favourites like “I Think I Was a Tree Once” and “A Bug’s Life”, as well as brand new poems like “Monet’s Dream” and “The Environmentalist”. Then as we turned our faces to the moon / Our hands entwined, our hearts in sync, in tune / We felt the fingers of the silken breeze / And made our wishes on the falling leaves / A gust of wind set off a whispered sigh / Among the trees that leaned against the sky.  Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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The Waves

The waves, the waves are rolling in
Rolling in, building and breaking
Rolling in, swelling and swaying
Like an endless dance of to and fro
An endless march of letting go

The sea, the sea is restless still
Restless still, foaming and frothing
Restless still, tugging and teasing
Like an endless rhyme of ebb and flow
An endless ode of undertow

The waves, the waves in endless dance
An endless dance of letting go
An endless rhyme of undertow
Like a swaying march of to and fro
A teasing ode of ebb and flow

The surf, the surf is calling me
Calling me, rumbling and roaring
Calling me, crashing and cresting
Like an endless song of high and low
An endless voice from long ago

The tide, the tide is coming in
Coming in, pushing and pulling
Coming in, bubbling and breathing
Like an endless drawing of the bow
An endless wheel of reap and sow

The waves, the waves in endless song
An endless song from long ago
An endless drawing, reap and sow
Like a cresting voice of high and low
A breathing wheel, a flexing bow

The sand, the sand is shining gold
Shining gold, soaking and shifting
Shining gold, blowing and burning
Like an endless sky of sunset glows
An endless dream of sculpted rows

The waves, the waves are tumbling in
Tumbling in, chasing and churning
Tumbling in, streaking and spraying
Like an endless rhythm, fast and slow
An endless gift of art on show

The sea, the surf, the tide, the sand
Restless, calling, coming, shining
Frothing, roaring, pulling, shifting
Like a rolling wave of gifts on show
A tumbling wave of dreams to know

Wayne Visser © 2016

Book

Wishing Leaves: Favourite Nature Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together nature poems by Wayne Visser, celebrating the diversity, beauty and ever-changing moods of our planet. The anthology includes many old favourites like “I Think I Was a Tree Once” and “A Bug’s Life”, as well as brand new poems like “Monet’s Dream” and “The Environmentalist”. Then as we turned our faces to the moon / Our hands entwined, our hearts in sync, in tune / We felt the fingers of the silken breeze / And made our wishes on the falling leaves / A gust of wind set off a whispered sigh / Among the trees that leaned against the sky.  Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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The Spirit of Nature

The Nature of Spirit …
In the flowers – the patterns of consciousness
In the waters – the ebb and flow of energy
In the trees – the cycle of birth, life and death
In the mountains – the landscape on which we choose life’s paths
… Is the Spirit of Nature.

Wayne Visser © 1995

Book

Wishing Leaves: Favourite Nature Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together nature poems by Wayne Visser, celebrating the diversity, beauty and ever-changing moods of our planet. The anthology includes many old favourites like “I Think I Was a Tree Once” and “A Bug’s Life”, as well as brand new poems like “Monet’s Dream” and “The Environmentalist”. Then as we turned our faces to the moon / Our hands entwined, our hearts in sync, in tune / We felt the fingers of the silken breeze / And made our wishes on the falling leaves / A gust of wind set off a whispered sigh / Among the trees that leaned against the sky.  Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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Still Pond

There is a secret place on Hampstead Heath
Where ancient trees surround a pond of peace
Where ducks and moorhens strut and preen
Where a silent heron stands guard, unseen

The seasons lap like tides upon the trees
Budding and blooming and scattering leaves
While the pond breathes its living ebb and flow
From winter’s frost-glass to summer’s fire-glow

I visit there to find my resting place
A calm eye amidst life’s swirling pace
I visit there to renew my earthly bond
To find myself, reflected, in the still pond.

Wayne Visser © 2012

Book

Wishing Leaves: Favourite Nature Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together nature poems by Wayne Visser, celebrating the diversity, beauty and ever-changing moods of our planet. The anthology includes many old favourites like “I Think I Was a Tree Once” and “A Bug’s Life”, as well as brand new poems like “Monet’s Dream” and “The Environmentalist”. Then as we turned our faces to the moon / Our hands entwined, our hearts in sync, in tune / We felt the fingers of the silken breeze / And made our wishes on the falling leaves / A gust of wind set off a whispered sigh / Among the trees that leaned against the sky.  Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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Great Fathers of the Forest

Tall and noble you stand
Members of a sacred council
Silent in wise consensus

I remember your rooted past
See your swaying present
Imagine your reaching future

I sense your patient pulse
Touch your fibrous skin
Embrace your ample girth

You and the earthworms
Alone are the survivors
Of a lost world of giants

You are the guardians of time
The keepers of ancient wisdom
The elders of our earthly tribe

What would you teach us
If we had the humility
To sit at your feet and listen?

What secret knowledge
About surviving and thriving
And growing old gracefully?

What patient lessons
About thinking big, starting small
And aiming high?

I am a comforted babe
Rocked to sleep in the cradle
Of your gentle ways

I am a curious child
Scaling the heights of possibility
In your outstretched boughs

And when I leave
To pursue my impatient life
I carry you in my heart

And when you or I die
You will be my ancestral guides –
Oh, Great Fathers of the Forest

Wayne Visser © 2001

Book

Wishing Leaves: Favourite Nature Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together nature poems by Wayne Visser, celebrating the diversity, beauty and ever-changing moods of our planet. The anthology includes many old favourites like “I Think I Was a Tree Once” and “A Bug’s Life”, as well as brand new poems like “Monet’s Dream” and “The Environmentalist”. Then as we turned our faces to the moon / Our hands entwined, our hearts in sync, in tune / We felt the fingers of the silken breeze / And made our wishes on the falling leaves / A gust of wind set off a whispered sigh / Among the trees that leaned against the sky.  Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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Oh, To Be A Cloud

Oh, to be a cloud
Adrift in deep blue skies
Without a care
With wisp and flair
No whos or whats or whys

Oh, to be a cloud
Above the world so high
To smile and tear
To disappear
To flit and flut and fly

Oh, to be a cloud
Windswept from shore to shore
Without a home
To call your own
No polestar to implore

Oh, to be a cloud
A blocker of the sun
To rage and roar
To rain and pour
To always spoil the fun

Oh, to be a cloud
Of any shape you please
To bend the glow
Into a bow
To dance and daze and tease

Oh, to be a cloud
A bridge for heaven’s gulf
I’d be arcane
But then again
I’d rather be myself

Wayne Visser © 2010

Book

Wishing Leaves: Favourite Nature Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together nature poems by Wayne Visser, celebrating the diversity, beauty and ever-changing moods of our planet. The anthology includes many old favourites like “I Think I Was a Tree Once” and “A Bug’s Life”, as well as brand new poems like “Monet’s Dream” and “The Environmentalist”. Then as we turned our faces to the moon / Our hands entwined, our hearts in sync, in tune / We felt the fingers of the silken breeze / And made our wishes on the falling leaves / A gust of wind set off a whispered sigh / Among the trees that leaned against the sky.  Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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Fire Flood

Dewy drops of sun-soaked rays
Become a steady shower
Building to a lashing storm
Of searing, scorching power

Puddles of heat ripple and shimmer
Sparking in the light
Spraying mists of smoky cloud
That scale to towering height

Winds whip up a fiery tide
That crashes wave on wave
On shore of tinder grass and pine
Drowning all beneath the blaze

Valleys swell with molten streams
That snake with eerie glow
Cascading falls of liquid flame
Down mountain gorges flow

At last the tempest’s fury ends,
Leaving wounds of sooty mud
Earth’s charred scars heal to green –
Survivor of the fire flood

Wayne Visser © 2002

Book

Wishing Leaves: Favourite Nature Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together nature poems by Wayne Visser, celebrating the diversity, beauty and ever-changing moods of our planet. The anthology includes many old favourites like “I Think I Was a Tree Once” and “A Bug’s Life”, as well as brand new poems like “Monet’s Dream” and “The Environmentalist”. Then as we turned our faces to the moon / Our hands entwined, our hearts in sync, in tune / We felt the fingers of the silken breeze / And made our wishes on the falling leaves / A gust of wind set off a whispered sigh / Among the trees that leaned against the sky.  Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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