How to Talk to Trees & Other Poems

By Gillian Floyd

This poetry collection by Gillian Floyd is largely inspired by her love of nature and her interest in Greek Mythology. You will find poems about trees, such as sycamore and lilac trees; flowers, such as sunflowers and snapdragons; birds, such as sparrows, seagulls, owls and robins; and creatures, such as cats, bats, wolves, unicorns and dragons. You will follow Orpheus to the underworld, meet Persephone as she writes home to her mother and Athena as she weaves. You will even watch Icarus as he attempts to fly for a second time. The perfect collection of poems to relax with and reflect upon.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brown Dog Books
• Release date: Feb 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9781839526022

Book preview

How to Talk to Trees

Use no words. Instead lie down

Upon the grass, beneath

The swaying boughs. Look up.

Keep looking up. Pay attention

To everything you see. Disregard

All thought and the sense

You should be somewhere else doing

Something else: this has its own

Significance. Do not move.

Do not care. Simply be aware

Of

trees…

Until, at last,

Your mind starts growing, branching out,

Extending upwards gradually

Towards the sky, towards the sun. Feel it sprout

Leaf

on leaf

on

leaf…

Let it grow

As high as it will go, as wide

As it will reach – then do

No more. Nothing.

Only stay

Right where you are, your mind

Mingling with the quiet air

And the quiet

light…Now

you will find

That, without really trying,

You’ll be talking in a language trees

Can understand – not our language

Of words, but their language

Of peace.

Gull

You were born of a storm

And high seas,

The whip and lash of the waves.

A spittle of foam was flung in the air,

Grew wings and a beak,

Gave a shriek –

You were there:

My schoolgirl familiar,

Good friend from the days I’d watch you

Claiming the sports ground

Those moments we had all alone,

You and I; our time together

A confidence shared

Just between us. Who cared

For me then? No one I knew,

But, in you, I had an ally,

Something that took all my dreams and flew

With them through that drab sky

To goodness knows where,

And I, although grounded,

Knew what it was to be carefree,

Unbounded.

Years later, I still feel the same,

Hearing your cry

As you greedily snatch

The bread that I throw,

Or when I view from below

Your easy flight – a sliver of white

In the sky’s ocean,

Riding the storm,

The whip and lash of the

waves…

The Second Flight of Icarus

Don’t fly too high my father said,

Or the sun may dazzle you,

Throw you off course, or, even worse,

Melt the feathers from your arms.

Look to me to be your guide

And you should be quite safe.

Yes I replied.

But the voice inside my head

Pondered What’s the use of wings

If they can’t take you

Where you want to go? – and that,

For me, was as high as possible.

Besides, once in the air,

The feeling of euphoria was irresistible;

So I simply kept on flying

Up and up and up,

Till – you would say – the inevitable

And I went crashing from the sky

Into the cool Aegean. I heard a cry

Of Icarus! followed by the sound of water

Guzzling my head.

No doubt my father thought that I was dead

When, minutes later, I had not emerged;

And yes, I, too, thought I was dying

As down I went – so deep, deep down

Into the surging

blackness…

But then – a miracle! I felt myself

Rising to the

surface…gently,

gradually,

Just like a

bubble…till,

all at once,

There I was, the patient sky above me.

I knew I had another chance.

This time, I’ll do it properly, do it right.

This time, not only