clear-cut pines—
concentric circles
filling the pond
Published by
Michael Dylan Welch
Michael Dylan Welch served two terms as poet laureate of Redmond, Washington, where he has curated monthly SoulFood Poetry Night readings since 2006 and was president of the Redmond Association of Spokenword for more than 15 years. His books include True Colour, a collection of solo rengay, and Seven Suns, Seven Moons. He founded and continues to direct the annual Seabeck Haiku Getaway, runs National Haiku Writing Month (www.nahaiwrimo.com), and serves as a director of the biennial Haiku North America conference. He has been keynote speaker for the Haiku International Association conference in Tokyo, and in 2012 one of his translations from the Japanese appeared on the back of 150 million U.S. postage stamps. His personal website is www.graceguts.com, devoted mostly to poetry. View all posts by Michael Dylan Welch
This subtle comparison with the gentle artistry of raindrops in a body of water brings to mind how we count age rings after the death, for whatever purpose, of whatever tree man fells.
A beautiful and thought-provoking poem, Michael. Thank-you! I love Ingrid's interpretation as well. My first thoughts were that the concentric circles in the pond were the result of the pervasive thud of a felled tree and the ripples this causes locally in the pond but also rippling out toward all sentient life, including future generations. Michael's poem reminds me of Chief Seattle's warning: “Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can not eat money.”
Does it all!!
Thank you Michael. I can visualize this image so clearly. Poignant.