Walking Cathedral Trail, The Devil's Thorn

The sign reads: beware

Tribulus Terrestris

reminder
to the invasive
interloper

here is not

yours to make

what you will of...

A walk in

from a highway

the incessant din

left in the dust of kindled thoughts...

the towering redwoods

beyond our understanding

whisper to an age

before the maw-worm of a chainsaw

sheared majestic mountains

before Tribulus Terrestris

Ken e Bujold

Reviews

[softlyfall]

OOOh, I get it! At first i imagined this was a diatribe about the clumsy destruction mankind leaves in its wake, perhaps because I heard the chain saw.
But it is about a male enhancement supplement? I am not altogether au courant on Tribulus Terrestris, clearly. Still, it would not migrate to the North American redwoods all by itself.
Mankind is the weed, if you ask me. Nuff said.

[Zoe Richardson]

Hmm... who is the interloper here? The plant, or the person? Nature in and of itself is dangerous when left to its own devices. Very much like people. Much to think about in this one. I'll be musing for awhile!

[Rafia Anjum]

the best part of your writing is the amalgamation of nature with human life and issues ,i just love the way you write.Great !

[Ken e Bujold]

thanks for stopping by Rafia, glad you enjoyed the poem

[Rafia Anjum]

pleasure is mine

[andrew mitchell]

Nice writing Ken. Do bears and cougars or is it the mountain lion inhabit those parts.?

[Ken e Bujold]

on this particular trail I wouldn't think any consider the human traffic, but in the neighborhood as they say black and brown bears and cougars all to be watched out for. Vancouver island is a natural paradise. this particular terrestris is real, an invasive south american plant that has taken root, and has a rather painful sting to its spikes, hence the signage. metaphorically, man is the invader of course

[andrew mitchell]

Ok I was way off the mark. Thanks for letting me know.

[Coyote Poetry]

I loved the poem Ken. I had to research "sheared majestic mountains
before Tribulus Terrestris"
A interesting place. We know. The tropical forest in South America and the forest of our world. There are natural cures that men are making extinct. I try to study the herbal cures once. I didn't have enough time to learn enough. Thank you for sharing the outstanding poetry.
Coyote

[Ken e Bujold]

glad you enjoyed the poem John. The great woods of our world are indeed magical temples

[Coyote Poetry]

Yes they are Ken. If we don't protect them. We shall kill the beauty of our world.

[W. Barrett Munn]

Interesting Ken. This to me is what T.S. Eliot would sound like if he were to lecture on biology, which is awfully high praise for both the poetry and the biology.

Winston

[Ken e Bujold]

thank you ever so much for the high praise. The sign by the way is real, warns hiker along the Cathedral trail on Vancouver Island to take care of the Devil's Thorn, their spikes are apparently quite a sting. I didn't test the warning.

[W. Barrett Munn]

For some reason this reminds me of Eliot’s “Morning at the Window”.

[Ken e Bujold]

high praise for which I am grateful. until just now I hadn't read Window in a long time. thanks for stirring my memory. personally I think poem is a little closer to Thom Gunn's middle period