Communion with Nature - Ten Ways

Dr Abe V Rotor

Twin Jaira and Julia on a walk at People's Park, Tagaytay, August 21, 2015

Overlooking nature's majestic caldera*

this twin in a rare experience;

half-sky, half-water, half-land kingdom 

a fairytale of the eighth sense.

* A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land, following a volcanic eruption. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters. Tagaytay was formed by this geologic phenomenon.

 Splendor on the Grass, Sky Ranch Park, Tagaytay,
August 21, 2015

Splendor on the grass at twilight
laughing with the stars;
who cares about rain and wind,
time like this is scarce.

   

 Tagaytay overlooking Taal Volcano,  August 21, 2015

Grand Dad and Marchus the only two in the world,

theirs the time, space and stillness;

let the world go round unceasingly to others,

save this ephemeral togetherness. 

   

Sunken Pier, Puerto, Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur

Behold! a jellyfish as looking glass

unfolds a third world scene:

half terrestrial, half aquatic,

solid and liquid in between,

third matter in colloidal form -

strange the world is ever seen. 

 

Baby sitting: Fluppy, angora rabbit at home

Here is seeing the world in dreams;

half awake, half asleep,

on two planes -  fantasy and reality,

rather than counting sheep,

to unload life's burden at the end of day -

a heaven sent li'l rabbit.

  

Tamboili shells, former St. Paul Museum

I'm standing on the world's narrowest isthmus,

among archives and fossils of history,

where I can hold the Pacific and the Atlantic

oceans half the world apart and free;

I cross the time and distance barrier

with these chroniclers singing to me

the unending roars of the tides,

tides on the street, tides of the sea.  

Rare walking stick insects, Museum of Natural History, UPLB Laguna

Dragons in fairy tales and religious fictions -

they are fierce, they're enemies of mankind;

in fossils and movies they scare the children;

little do we think of them friendly and kind,

devouring pests, singing lullaby in dull air;

misjudged, they're harder and harder to find.

Baby orangutan, Avilon Zoo, San Mateo, Rizal

Monkey on my back, that's what people say

when what we say logic we lack;

genes may vary, yet the same to this day,

indeed, a monkey on our back.

Viewing telescope, Mall of Asia, Pasay Metro Manila

Yes, creatures but man, are getting fewer, farther apart;

changing the old game with art of glass and steel;

where you can't get near, when you can't touch and feel,

technology comes to fill, yet empty still. 

Parakeets,  Safari World, Thailand

Lovely, friendly -  kindest words ever be,

whereas their kin are wild and free;

lucky in man's judgment these pair  may be

if only we understand their plea

for freedom to the wild, to their ancestry

and away from the artificial tree.