story – Owlnature

A summer story / poem (a true-life story, summer 2020)

I wrote this summer story / poem yesterday and today. This is a true story, so all the things in this story have happened to me this summer, just the way I wrote them. At the end of this blog post there are also some flower pictures that I have taken this summer.

Hot days in June, it is so light at night, different things it allows
The lovely sound of summer, little birds are flying around, I know them, they are swallows
The birds wintered in the tropical lands, but now they are here
We humans do not have to travel far, nature is so amazing, near.

A cuckoo bird calling, baby woodpeckers are loud, a fox at me now stares
A tiny spider as white as the flowers of the Midsummer rose. Fancy, just to say who dares
Hide now, seek now, just wait and see, the day just might be fair
Wandering the roads, no one knows, I might meet a friend, it is a hare.

In July then, I am wearing a winter coat, I see a tiny moth dive into embers
The rain is hammering the peony flowers, that a gardener remembers
Then suddenly it is warm again, cherries, strawberries, everything you desire
The scents, the memories, the long-awaited coffee around the campfire.

Frogs are greeting me, raspberries, bilberries, the gold red and blue
Grasshoppers I meet in the kitchen, now that is something new
August, the days are getting shorter, sunflowers open their petals, so yellow
Look at the stars, think now. Learn what is new, wonder, know.

Late August, the Midsummer rose is flowering again, pears and plums ripen on the trees
A hot day, every time the last one for the summer, who knows, oh, summer please! 

- Leena, August 25-26, 2020

July — Finnish Valamonruusu ´Rosa Splendens´

August — Poppies, pot marigolds… summer flowers…

Leena

A nature story / poem

Okay, should I call this now `quarantine poetry´, or what…? Anyway, I came up with this story / poem on Wednesday, and wrote it on Wednesday and yesterday.

Sunshine in the early spring, a peaceful serene day
How peppy, you´ll see, a hare is hopping amidst the dry hay
Time to rest, for a wanderer, by a pond 
the scenery´s mellow
A little stream, the sound you seek, when you do not 
miss the snow.

A campfire feels like home, she looks up at the tall trees
Evening falls. The forest, the stories... Write now, 
no one sees!
- A cheerful greeting - Then a quiet leaving. She says 
smiling "That was an owl."
What you do not see is there to be sought, playing 
a meaningful role.

Moss all around, the campfire, the scents, out there 
is no light
Flames dance in the air, the words, expect nothing, then 
feel the might
At night, stand guard, the fire, pen and paper, oh, 
how the day is old
Be curious. The hoot - ask yourself what it told.

Embers, morning´s cold, thoughts are fresh on paper, 
the day´s birdsong, fair
She steps out of the woods, it´s so bright in a field, now 
into the woods hops the hare
Nature has its rhythm, wisdom in the moment, the best 
now is the spring
The road goes on, she stops "On second thoughts...", 
back to the woods she heads and starts to sing.

- Leena, March 18-19, 2020

A nature story / poem

I have wanted to do this since Christmas – to write a story or a poem (necessarily needs to rhyme :p ), the kind that I could immediately publish here in my blog. Yesterday I finally had the time and everything to both come up with a story and to write it.

Late-winter night, wise and bold,
The secrets it might hold...
Two moose are wandering in a field, the moon is 
bright tonight
The scenery is pale in white, still, a meaningful sight.

Three deer are standing in the field, listening side by side
A hare is leaping in the forest, there is no need to hide
Snow starts falling from the trees, the deer flee, the hare 
looks up and stops,
Frozen moss beneath his paws, more snow falls down, he hops.

A fox is running in the snow, now swiftly past the trees
A black figure is watching from the shadows, everything 
he sees,
A swish, then a croak, oh look, it is a raven
The pine forest for the bird is a sublime haven.

Sunshine in the morning about the spring us tells
Birds are chirping around a frozen pond, the scene is like 
softly ringing bells
A long road between the fields, it is daytime, a light and 
an easy pace,
A wanderer humming to herself, a happy and thoughtful face.

In the evening, in the forest - Hush -

The sound of a campfire and a stream somewhere near
Dusk. She closes her eyes and listens, thinking 
"That´s an animal, I can hear..."
A rustle and the sound of a creature hopping, the campfire 
is so nice and warming
All this is beautiful, familiar and wild, curious, forever 
charming.

- Leena, February 26, 2020

A blast from the past IV – Writing about nature

Finland is 100 years old today. And I have another blog post for this Independence Day.

It’s December again, so it’s time to do something crazy… 🙂 A year ago I published here in my blog some of my old writings, three of them. They were all creative writing and poems. Now I publish one more text, the name of the text is just simply “Writing about nature“. – About nature, Finnish nature and my home.

The two pictures in this blog post I took in our garden today. The sun was shining so low and bright, warming my face nicely.

So, this was written by me in spring 2002:

Writing about nature

I am highly grateful that I was born near the countryside even though I must admit that I’m occasionally cursing the fact. In the end, I believe it may be some kind of advantage all the same. Living between wheat and rye fields is a peaceful place for being lost in one’s thoughts, which is an essential thing for me. Nonetheless, too much of anything always is too much, no matter how much I love the sense of mud beside the roads around here.

My words probably are not adequate for describing how much I value the four seasons and Finnish nature. Variation between the weather conditions and the colours of nature are something a human being couldn’t live without, in my point of view. When it comes to religious devotion within nature, in a way, nature truly is divine. I find nature a sacred and splendid thing that is the basis of everything.

I go in for walking out-of-doors every day. Walking in the drizzling darkness of autumn or on a starry, wintry evening in January or on a slightly warm late-summer evening are all equally stimulating and relaxing, by natural turns. Nature is the most ideal place to be when trying to listen to oneself and heal one’s peace of mind. Nature loves a human being if one loves her in return.

-Leena

A blast from the past III (the last one, for now:)) – a nature-related love poem

A wolf wandering in the wilderness that is dressed up in snow white
The night is falling to caress the silence with the moonlight
The mid-winter frost is biting the paws of the beautiful beast,
For the breeze that the chilly morning sent, has never ceased.

The animal is walking up the slope of the shadowy fell,
Looking backwards where the den of the paleness can be seen well
Beneath the starry cover the frozen lake of the wild is slumbering
The falling flakes reflect the glow, and the wolf’s grey fur is glittering.

On the fell-top the lone wolf many times has cried,
But the howling only is for the moon to hear, there is no one by his side
Yet the beast keeps on yearning for his beloved and the never promised moon,
He knows his endless calling might reach someone any time soon.

And that night the echo brings a message cried out by another loner,
But will they ever have a true encounter, or is everything merely over?

-Leena

(Written by me in winter 2002. :))

A blast from the past II – writing a nature poem

Late-Night Life in the Wild

A courageous vagabond in the silent wilderness of the fabled north,
For what is his smothered cry worth?
Twinkling stars a comfort for the lonely hermit’s soul
Silence suddenly break by the voice of a cheerfully greeting owl.

He accepted the captivating call of the distant wild,
The whispering condemnation not for the fragile
The glimmering full-moon lightens the path never-ending,
An autumnal message the honest glow is sending.

Strong northern-breeze chants kindly in his ear,
Accompanied by the howling of a whining wolf so near
The brave animal dwells in the shelter of an echoing fell
Lone wolf’s tears for the sacred full-moon are not due to farewell.

If a shiny star should shoot in the black sky,
Would the melancholic man wish or tell a white lie?
Is the blaze of the northern lights an omen of the end of his sorrow,
Or awaits there just another hailing tomorrow?

Bare dwarf birches beside a glittering, dark blue, flowing river
A longingly screaming eagle is giving him the shiver
A campfire sparkling nostalgic warmth which will the nighttime last,
Is the softly singing hermit missing something from the past?

-Leena

(Written by me in autumn 2001. :))

A blast from the past – writing a nature poem

The depth of winter where the moon is rising,
The weak daylight dwindles without compromising
Pale glow takes over, the shadows grow dark
Behind the wood a vigorous dog begins to bark.

The winding road between the fields that are gleaming white,
For evening’s walker the frozen landscape is a peaceful sight
Snow flurry covers the footprints on the ground
Cool breeze sighs, the flakes dash gently all around.

Silence captures the falling night, standing bold and wise
The stars stay awake observing with their bright eyes
A door creaks casting light when thrown open wide,
The shivering dog hears a whistle, and rushes swiftly inside.

-Leena

(Written by me in autumn 2001. :))