Tag: wayne visser

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Radical Activist

You call me a radical activist
Condemning my actions as touting extremes
No doubt there’s a need for instruction
For it’s high praise, if you know what it means

What else should I be, if not radical
For radical means to go back to the roots
A farmer begins by preparing the earth
And seeding the soil, in time, brings new shoots

You call me a radical activist
For sourcing the problem or ultimate cause
No doubt it results in disruption
Or blocking and breaking unjustified laws

And what else should I be, if not active
(I’ll be passive enough when I’m done and dead)
The world needs a shake-up to wake it
And the legacy ways, like leaves, must be shed

You call me a radical activist
And I thank you kindly for this accolade
No doubt it’s the path of construction
Of shaping and shifting – our future remade

Wayne Visser © 2023

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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Nature Positive

I’m thinking it’s not too late, that our fate is not sealed,
That the race of life is far from run; we’re not done,
For we wield the wand of choice, we have a voice,
We can speak for the Earth, and not let her perish,
Take care of her creatures and all that we cherish,
For we’re not ready to give up, or stand idly by
And watch our mother die.

Let it begin, with protecting more, then let’s restore
The land and sea, let’s win back what we’ve lost,
Before the cost becomes too high, because the sky’s
The limit and fortune favours those who try.

I’m dreaming of a new world, of nature unfurled
In swirls of blue and curls of green, in bursts of yellow
And swathes of pink, each time I blink another species
Comes back from the brink, another habitat is restored
To health, and the wealth of ecosystems returns,
Emerging from the gloom of the womb to give birth
To a revitalised Earth.

Let it begin, with the wolves and whales, as we tip the scales
Of trophic cascades, and as our fear fades we realise
That hunter and prey are performing a dance, a rhyme
That gives us a chance to reanimate the world, given time.

I’m learning that nature is resilient, that it’s brilliant
At bouncing back, if only we give it space, the lack
Of bugs and birds, of fish and trees can be reversed
In a burst of recovery, as the great extinction turns
Into a great flourishing, a nourishing of roots and shoots,
As biota and biomes, cycles and food webs are repaired
And their bounty is shared.

Let it begin, with the factories and farms, turning harms
Into new ways of making and growing, of showing
How waste can be nutrients, and soils be alive,
For life coils like a spring, forever poised to thrive.

I’m turning dreams into action, and gaining traction
As solutions take hold and scale, as we dare to be bold
And fail, while tales of our success spreads, like bees
From flower to flower, the power is in our hands,
To clean up the oceans, and heal our lands,
And so I’m choosing to detox, to reseed and rewild,
For the hopes of a child.

Wayne Visser © 2023

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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Letter to Earth

Dear Earth

I have some things I’d like to say, things I need to get off my chest
But feelings can be tricky, so I thought that pen and paper’s best
I’m writing you this letter, to explain myself, as best I can
And, not to spoil the surprise, but I’m just about your biggest fan

Part 1. I See You

If you were our mother, I wonder, would you be proud or sad?
Would you see our kindness, the good in our hearts, and be glad?
Would you rejoice in what we’ve achieved, the lessons that we’ve learned?
And what of the chances we’ve squandered, the bridges that we’ve burned?

I want to say: I see you!
Though, in truth, at times I close my eyes
For what we humans do sometimes makes me quite ashamed
We have inflicted our ugliness, peddled our lies
I only hope that what’s been lost still can be regained

I see your beauty, and how you have been scarred
Your jungles cut, your mountains mined, your grasslands charred
I see your bounty, and how you have been scammed
Your creatures killed, your airways choked, your rivers jammed

I want to say: I see you!
Your emerald forests and umber sands
Your sapphire oceans and azure skies
Your mountain peaks and frozen lands
Your coves and caves where mystery lies

Part 2. I Hear You

If you were our father, I wonder, would you be calm or mad?
Would you cherish our resilience, stand by our actions, good and bad?
Would you relish the battles we’ve fought, no matter if we lost or won?
And what of the havoc we’ve unleashed, the destruction that we’ve spun?

I want to say: I hear you!
Though, in truth, at times I block my ears
For what we people do sometimes leaves me quite disturbed
We have amplified our noisiness, trumpeted our fears
I only hope that what’s been hushed can one day be reheard

I hear your melody, and how you have been muted
Your chorus stifled, your voice muffled, your wisdom refuted
I hear your symphony, and how it turns to silence
Your songs distorted, your cries ignored, your peace met with violence

I want to say: I hear you!
Your singing whales and tweeting birds
Your shrieking storms and sighing breeze
Your howling wolves and grunting herds
Your roaring lions and creaking trees

Part 3. I’m Sorry

If you were our child, I wonder, would you be happy or furious?
Would you look forward to your future with bright unbridled hope?
Would you be carefree, would you play, would you be curious?
And would you understand our folly when you’re struggling to cope?

I want to say: I’m sorry!
Though, in truth, at times I seal my lips
For what our leaders do sometimes, I have to say, I hate it
We have taken your wild places and turned them into tips
I only hope that what’s been spoiled can be rejuvenated

I feel your disappointment and how you’ve been neglected
Your land poisoned, your seas polluted, your biodiversity affected
I feel your melancholy and how you’ve been degraded
Your wetlands drained, your corals bleached, your living treasures raided

I want to say: I’m sorry!
For being so careless with your gift of life
For being so selfish with my unquenchable need
For being so childish with my endless strife
For being so callous with my insatiable greed

Part 4. I Love You

If you were our deity, I wonder, would you be angry or forgiving?
Would you give us another chance; another chance at living?
Would you want us to carry on, or rather wipe the slate all clear?
And would you be willing to help us, teach us; would you hold us dear?

I want to say: I love you!
Though, in truth, at times I harden my heart
For what we humans do sometimes makes us undeserving
We’ve cut so many sacred strands and torn your web apart
I only hope we’ll realise your life is worth preserving

I love your wholeness, and how you manage to survive
Your vitality, your diversity, your myriad ways to thrive
I love your openness, and how you reach up for the skies
Your buds in spring, your blooming flowers, your elusive butterflies

I want to say: I love you!
Your kaleidoscope of colours, your infinity of shapes
Your secrets of the helix code and evolution’s tree
Your everchanging seasons, the patterns weather makes
Your puzzle of creation, and maze paths to be free

P.S.

I had these things to say, so I’ve written you this letter
Though now I realise, I wrote it more for me than you
I wrote to say how much I care, and that I’ll do much better
And if I’m not mistaken, I think that maybe you care too

Lots of love
Your Great Admirer

Wayne Visser © 2023

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 Great Outdoors

I always pause when “love of the great outdoors” is invoked,
For it raises awkward questions, and I find I am provoked –
Not to question the sincerity of any love that’s so confessed
Nor the greatness of what lies beyond – we can but be impressed,
For doors are potent portals, thresholds of the in-between
That join two worlds, that draw a veil, over mysteries unseen.

Why do I pause and ponder each time I hear that phrase?
It’s because of what it stands for, and the mindset it betrays,
For when we say “the great outdoors”, we really mean to say
That nature, wild and beautiful, is “out there”, far away,
As if our lives were separate, a world apart, a life inside
And nature stands opposed, beyond ourselves, the chasm wide.

No wonder, then, that we ignore, neglect, exploit, abuse,
For nature is objectified, she’s there for us to use,
And so, we grub and grope and grab, and pay with tips of waste;
At best, we find her pleasure zones, then leave again in haste.
It seems to me a sordid tale of domination, master-slave
In which we feed our appetites, try to possess what we so crave.

‘That’s just not true!’ I hear you cry, ‘It’s not like that at all,
We love our nature, fair and green, we’re ever in its thrall.
We visit her great wilderness, we even pick our trash;
Your accusations are a lie, your arguments are rash!
And even in the city, you’ll often find us in the park
(Although it’s not a place to be alone and after dark)’.

I hear your plea, I empathise, I feel that way myself sometimes,
And yet the way you speak of nature clearly underlines
How separate you have become, how dumb and deaf and blind,
For you and nature are the same, with destinies entwined.
There is no door between us, no gap to step beyond,
For nature is our only home, a living web, our family bond.

So, when next someone you know invokes “the great outdoors”,
Reflect on what they mean and if you share their subtle cause,
For nature’s no more outdoors than nature’s in our homes
And in our hearts, our minds and blood, and in our very bones;
Nature is the loom of life, the warp and weft with which we weave
And every thread we cut or mend affects the legacy we leave.

I love that you love nature, which simply means you love yourself,
But nature’s not an elixir, a tonic for your mental health;
It’s every living thing on earth, and how we are connected;
It’s the microbe and the Milky Way as images reflected;
It’s great for sure, both out and in and every way you see it,
For nature’s us and we are nature – we only need to be it.

Wayne Visser © 2023

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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A Butterfly Appeared

Yesterday, a butterfly appeared
Fluttering at my windowpane, trapped on the inside,
Trying to get out, flummoxed, no matter how it tried,
By the invisible wall, the air of glass – and I feared
That all that’s right and all that’s wrong with the world
Was wrapped up in that moment, tightly furled:
A vision of light, as all the while, darkness neared

For here was beauty, nature at its most sublime
Within my grasp, though I had no thought of grasping,
A sign of something fleeting, yet strangely everlasting
As if capturing the mystery and paradox of time
For a butterfly – that quintessential symbol of change –
Is now at odds with the world we carelessly rearrange
To suit our rhythm and reason, without rhyme

We, the standing ape, who in our great escape
From the trees and from all things wild, untamed,
Have made a home for ourselves and proudly claimed
That what we choose to overuse is not rape
Only dominion – in truth, domination – over all
Until, in our arrogance, life itself begins to stall,
An age of extinction, an earth bent out of shape

Do I read too deep? Was it just a random butterfly?
Of course, I opened the window and let it out
A small victory for life and freedom; no doubt
An insignificant act, yet it felt good, at least to try
Yet later that day, another butterfly was trapped
And I released it too, and a third and fourth appeared, flapped
And flailed, a tap-tap dance of panic on the glassy sky

And so, it seems that my help was a delusion –
Quick fixes always are – for it did not touch the cause
The root of the problem, the artificial laws
That keep us wanting more, the unnatural profusion
Of things that we don’t need, that do not nourish
Our spirits, or allow nature’s great web to flourish
And so, we continue, blissful in our confusion

Still, this is the moment to change, as the end nears
For endings can be beginnings, if we let go
If we give up crawling and take to flying, we grow
For we are not prisoners of our darkest fears
We can act to reseed the earth and rewild the sea
We can choose to free up space for all life to be
For the next butterfly that appears

Wayne Visser © 2023

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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We Have Earth

Who needs heaven when we have skies
That blush and bruise in pinks and blues
That puff and swish to eagles’ cries
Who needs heaven when we have eyes

Who needs wishing when we have trees
That stretch and sway in green and grey
That creak and kiss like living seas
Who needs wishing when we have trees

Who needs dreaming when we have earth
That seeds and blooms in fragrant tunes
That conjures life from dark and dearth
Who needs dreaming when we have rebirth

Wayne Visser © 2023

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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Moon Whisper

Each year, I scratch and fumble to make my mark
Set ink to page, a searchlight in the dark
Not knowing how the letters land, hit or miss
Yet they remind us both to follow our bliss

Each year, I muse and mumble to say my bit
Patch heart to sleeve, bat wings that glide and flit
Not knowing if the moon whispers above you
Nor if, like me, it murmurs: I love you

Wayne Visser © 2023

Book

Icarus: Favourite Love Poems

This creative collection, now in its 2nd edition, brings together love poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology traces love’s agony (“Broken Dreams”) and ecstasy (“Galaxies Cart-Wheeling”), from first blush (“Almost Strangers”) to full bloom (“Say ‘I Do!’”), as we fly to love. You’ve given me the gift of golden wings / The endless sphere of blue imaginings / The chance to rise above the silver clouds / The will to cast off untold ghostly shrouds / Don’t fly too high / Don’t rise too fast / Don’t tease the sky / Don’t taunt the past / You’ve given me the hope of warmer days / The blessed kiss of the sun’s fiery rays. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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This Is The Way

No matter what you do or say
Your life is yours to live each day
No matter how you work or play
Your time is yours to spend each day

Take care of where you live and how
Take care of where you work and why
Take care of who you love and how
Take care of who you are and why

No matter if you go or stay
Your life is lived within the fray
No matter if your skies turn grey
Your love is bright – This Is The Way

Wayne Visser © 2023

Book

String, Donuts, Bubbles and Me: Favourite Philosophical Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together philosophical poems by Wayne Visser. In this anthology, he muses on subjects ranging from space, angels and destiny to time, science and meaning in life. According to scientists / The world’s made of string / That buzzes and fuzzes / Or some such strange thing / It’s also a donut / That curls round a hole / With middles and riddles / Just like a fish bowl / And there’s no mistaking / It’s more than 3-D / With twenty or plenty / Dimensions unseen / Still others insist / It’s really a bubble / That’s popping and bopping / Through the lenses of Hubble. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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And We Grow

Life is full of twists and turns
So many things we cannot know
Yet step by step we make our way
And as we do, we learn and grow

We may have lines upon our face
We may have scars and stars to show
Yet day by day we tell our tale
And as we do, our stories grow

Love is full of joy and pain
As seasons turn and rivers flow
Yet hand in hand we venture forth
And as we do, we shine and grow

Wayne Visser © 2023

Book

String, Donuts, Bubbles and Me: Favourite Philosophical Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together philosophical poems by Wayne Visser. In this anthology, he muses on subjects ranging from space, angels and destiny to time, science and meaning in life. According to scientists / The world’s made of string / That buzzes and fuzzes / Or some such strange thing / It’s also a donut / That curls round a hole / With middles and riddles / Just like a fish bowl / And there’s no mistaking / It’s more than 3-D / With twenty or plenty / Dimensions unseen / Still others insist / It’s really a bubble / That’s popping and bopping / Through the lenses of Hubble. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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The Earth Turns

The Earth turns
Each year brings change
The sea churns
Each wave seeds rains
The mind learns
Each thought plays games
The heart yearns
Each beat sparks flames

A love that’s lost can reappear
A hidden face can be revealed
A soul that’s hurt can turn from fear
A sacred scroll can be unsealed

The world spins
Each day brings light
The path twists
Each boon or blight
The stream flows
Each ripple bright
The dawn sings
Each wish takes flight

Wayne Visser © 2023

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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