Nature – sethlewis.ie

The Ingredients of a Petal (a poem)

What is a petal,
and how would you make it?
What alchemic mixes
would help you create it?

The basic ingredients
everyone knows—some
soil and sunshine and
air—then it grows

But how?

The microscope cannot define
the grand and mysterious
secret of life

We see it
observe it
and live it ourselves
we plant it
and grow it
and store it on shelves

But where did it come from
and why does it bloom
with a spring resurrection
on winter’s old tomb?

A petal’s a beauty you
cannot invent—
a wonder, an omen,
an Artist’s intent

Searching for a Sign

“God, please give me a sign”, I said quietly, as I stepped outside.

I was in the middle of a confusing situation. I didn’t know what to do, or how. I couldn’t see how anything could work out well. I wanted to know that God was near, and involved. I wanted to see a display of his care, and power. I’m not sure what kind of sign I was looking for, exactly—a sudden bolt of lightning out of a clear blue sky? A rainbow ending at my house? A rare bird landing on my shoulder?

The Genius of Dirt

It’s everywhere. It sticks to your hands in the garden, and clings tightly to your shoes until the moment you step inside, where it promptly falls onto the just-cleaned floor. It stains the knees and elbows of children’s clothes, collects on the sides of cars, and turns into a sloppy mess in the rain. Dirt.

What else does God Name?

A break in the clouds made the sun shine briefly, and it filtered through the leaves of the trees that surrounded me. I’m still not well versed on the native tree species of Ireland, so I didn’t know what to call all the varieties around me. As I looked more closely at them, I thought species names wouldn’t really do them justice, anyway. Each tree was so unique, twisted and knobbed in its own peculiar ways, reaching outward and upward and marked with its own particular spots and stripes and lumpy roots. Each told its own silent story of growth over decades, with its scars to prove the challenge of survival and its buds to show the promise of life. I wanted to call each one by its own name, something fitting to itself, honouring its own unique existence. I stopped at one tree in particular and tried to find a name that would suit it. It looked stately and strong, like a weathered General in his dress uniform, but General is more of a title than a name, and probably too general. Anyway, it’s a bit silly and sentimental to be going around naming trees, isn’t it?

Life is a Vapour. Enjoy it.

I stood at the window with my coffee in hand, enjoying the unique stillness of a Saturday morning. The clouds in the eastern sky were blushing, in anticipation of the sun’s imminent arrival. Between me and them, a mist was rising, like the earth’s exhaled breath—growing, shifting, and dispersing, glowing in the golden morning glory. A breath. A vapour. This is what King Solomon called life itself, in the book of Ecclesiastes. Like your own breath in the crisp winter air—you can see it and feel the warmth of it, but the one thing you can never do is hold it.

The Leaf Collector (a very short story)

He had not been prepared. It was meant to be a routine check-up, not a death sentence, so he didn’t blame himself for the things he said in anger. Anyway, now his mind was clear. The tidal wave of shock and grief had washed away every excess concern and left him with one solitary desire which he now realised had always been there—he just hadn’t noticed it among the clutter he’d been collecting. The foundation was bared. His heart was exposed, and focused like never before.

He wanted to live.

Ring it in (a poem for a new year)

The bark still looks the same to me
its wrinkles and its moss
it’s just like the same old normal tree
with no clear gain or loss
I see the branches bending up
though now they’re bending bare
but I know well that underneath
are buds being prepared
and roots have reached down
deeper and the trunk slowly
expanded as the seasons
of another year
transform the life that’s planted
and my life is planted, also
and my heart-wood growing, too
and a new ring I have added
for each year
that I’ve passed through
some are thin—just bare survival
some are thick—great with revival
but each year
that I’m still here
I’ll ring it in
like the old oak tree
ring it in
until the world sees
how the grace that God
has granted
can transform the life
he planted
ring it in

It Isn’t Night for the Moon

Winter in Ireland. The time of year when the sun keeps shortening his hours, and the darkness encroaches steadily. It wasn’t late, but as I passed through our town that evening the sun’s face had already been missing for hours. And yet, I could still see his light. I saw it reflected off the full moon, beaming in the sky in all of its silver glowing glory.

Clouds (a poem)

As clouds diffuse
the sun’s great light
and drain the world of colour
my restless thoughts
have covered up
your glory and your power
at times a ray—or two—breaks through
at times I think I’m glimpsing you
and suddenly the world explodes
in living colour I behold
all things as they were meant to be
(it’s in your radiance I see)
and then my anxious thoughts return
and then my anxious heart unlearns
the beauty of your majesty
the goodness of your plan for me
and in the clouds (the glory-thieves)
I cry, “Lord, help my unbelief!”

The Little Weeds

It used to be a vacant lot, in the middle of town. Over months and seasons the grass and weeds have slowly given way to rows of potatoes, apples, carrots, pumpkins, onions, and more. This is our local community garden. We even have a poly-tunnel that fills up with tomatoes, lettuce, and courgettes that grow bigger than my forearm. Some of our volunteers are keen gardeners with plenty of knowledge and experience, and then there are people like me and my wife, ready to do as we’re told. This year, I’ve spent a lot of my time in the garden on one job in particular: killing things.