The Reason Why

14 Comments

Poem Commentary

Folks,

OK, I think this is done now...

I must admit its evolution has been prodded along by my good friends Paolo and Studly who have been generous with their time and suggestions.

Sometimes it takes more than one pair of eyes, you know.

I am pleased with the progress on this one.  It seems to be well advanced for such a "young" poem.

Comments are welcome.  Advice is sought.

gmcookie

The Reason Why

If there ever was a reason why
the stars reeled high in fragrant spring,
And danced the moon on treetops high,
Why butterflies all took to wing,

Why raindrops ever softly fell
On daffodils turned faces up,
With breezes, soft, conveying smell
Of lilac, stock, and buttercup.

If there ever was a reason why
It rests, with awe, beneath the dust.
To beauty we could not reply,
But turned to avarice and lust.

The earth is scarred by all that comes
With man's relentless want of things.
While culture pounds upon the drums
We soon forget our childhood springs.

The clear cut forests lie in fog,
Just memories of birds remain.
Gone the butterfly and frog,
With even's sweet and soft refrain.

Thus nature shrinks beneath our pall
To wither in our blighted hands;
But somewhere still inside us all
The child within us understands.

Before it's done, before the end,
Do we dare heed that child's cry,
To stop, to mend, to comprehend,
To learn again the reason why?

Poem Comments

(14)

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KtIrish commented on The Reason Why

08-26-2010

You were right, it's beautiful.

ApaqRasgirl commented on The Reason Why

07-24-2010

Dear friend that was a very powerful write. I loved it. If we all had the answers why to begin with maybe mans hand would have been less destructive, but it is doubtful, for man is too greedy in the end. this write was beautiful friend. It makes a profound statement to us all, and that we need to wake up now before we destroy what is left of the gifts mother earth has given us. I think you will like the one I wrote about the wolves, it is called "Mans Cruel Hand" http://www.originalpoetry.com/home/poems/view/title/mans-cruel-hand I hope you enjoy it. I have written so many about mother earth and things along that same line. thanks for the honor or this read. love asha

Paolo commented on The Reason Why

02-06-2010

This continues to be one of my favorite poems by one of my favorite writers. I am not just saying this to make anyone feel good. This poem stands on its own. There is so much here that prompts one to read it over and over again. Paolo

gmcookie

02/06/2010

Paolo, I can't tell you how much I appreciate that, but as you know, your advice was crucial in honing that poem. I deeply appreciate it. And a complement coming from you is like a blessing from the Pope. It means more than one from the villiage vicar! But, as you know, there are poets out there that make me feel nothing but humility: I am the family face; Flesh perishes, I live on, Projecting trait and trace Through time to times anon, And leaping from place to place Over oblivion. The years-heired feature that can In curve and voice and eye Despise the human span Of durance -- that is I; The eternal thing in man, That heeds no call to die ~ Heredity by Thomas Hardy

ginga commented on The Reason Why

09-15-2009

cookie, A wonderfully crafted poem on trying to understand our slow demise. ginga

dragonfly1023 commented on The Reason Why

07-23-2009

these are excellent thoughts showing respect for the gifts of nature in addition to a powerful concern for its preservation. very well written :D this would be a perfect addition to the P.O.E.T.S. collection gmcookie.

Poetry comes nearer to vital truth than history.

Plato (BC 427-BC 347) Greek philosopher.

gmcookie’s Poems (186)

Title Comments
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A Deal with Death 2
Frodo and the Ring 1
Glacier 0
The Earth Was Far Too Fragile 2
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The Wars That Men Have Fought 0
The Oracle of Tuckahoe 0
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Isabella 3
I Write Because 5
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Most Definitely More or Less 2
China Doll 1
Imagine 2
How to Feel 2
With Regrets 4
A Melancholy in the Land 0
The Borneo Fogcutter 1
January 21, 2013 3
Limerick 5 4
Kress Five and Dime 1
Beowulf 2
Icarus 3
Universes 5
Human Race 2
Requiem for Earth 1
Fathers and Sons 2
Goldfish 5
Robin Adams 1
Peaches 5
When We Were Young 3
Unknown 1
Solstice 1
Nkosi 1
Day's End 0
Outliers 2
I'll Be There 2
Mystery 0
Grafitti 0
Brand New Day 0
Leaves 0
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Language 0
Fire 2
Arthur Kleinfelt 0
The Last 0
To the Ants 0
Is Love a Lie 2
A Cat, at That 0
You Weren't Here 0
Sacred Ground 0
Rats 0
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Breathe! 2
One Percent 1
Hands 1
If God Had Not 3
As Once There was a First Time 0
Ghouls 1
Something Evil 0
Blue Dot 0
Against All Odds 0
Spacers 0
Pink Flamingo 3
I Thought 1
The Old Hochstetter Place 3
Sirens Wail 2
Lost 0
Social Insecurity 3
Dandelion 2
Zelda the Zebra 1
Avotcja 2
Virtue 1
Extinct Species 1
Things We Learned 1
Leadership 1
Conundrum 1
Wheels 0
Winona the Widow 0
The Game 0
Willie the Weasle 0
Barney the Badger 1
Priscilla the Pig 1
Free Lunch 2
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Street Kids 1
Junkyard of Forsaken Dreams 3
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Time's Villanelle 3
Taxi to Eternity 3
Common Sense 2 1
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Meaning 1
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Structured Verse 9
Tapestry 4
Punctuation 10
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Limerick 4 5
Keyboards 4
Our Lives 5
Christmas 3
Halfway to Eternity 7
Eddie Noel 9
Limerick 3 5
The Hand of God 9
Invisible 8
Nature 7
Limerick 2 7
Limerick 1 9
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My Children 8
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Choice 12
Old Folks 6
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Common Sense 11
The Shadows in Your Eyes 9
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Hung's Story 15
Vietnam Peace 9
Speaker for the Dead 9
Hummingbird 9
Fairies 7
On the point of a pin 11
Life's Manual 7
Ephemeral 5
Tiger in a Cage 8
Time 7
Love's Refrain 10
Destruction 7
Building Life 10
The Past 9
The Cat 6
Grace 7
No Two the Same 6
Effort 6
Cottonwoods 7
Monsters 5
Mayflies 7
Ray's Dream 14
A Thousand Thorns 4
Family 6
Childhood Toys 18
The Kid Down the Street 7
Red Moon 22
Love's End 6
Time is a Brutal Mistress 4
Blessed 3
Boundaries 7
The Reason Why 14
Hope 12
What To Do With Me 4
Pleased 8
The End 10
My Hands 5
Night Time Sky 9
Hung's Book 2
Death does not equivocate 14
I Cannot Say 6
What if 15
Only Words 7
After the Light has Faded 6