Percussion

The percussionists from the band

Did not get a lot of sleep last night,

And neither did I.

They started entertaining

About one in the morning and

Continued until six.

The opening movement

Consisted of low timpani slowly

Building to the staccato booms

Of the bass drum.

The second movement

Spotlighted large cymbals crashing,

While snares put together

Their relentless rhythms

On the roof, trees, and ground.

And the final movement

Featured the gradual

Retiring of the snares,

One clang of the small cymbals,

A silver tinkling of the bells,

Then three slow booms on the big bass drum,

And a gentle pom, pom, pom, by the timpani.

The early morning sun

Revealed a sparking world,

Gleaming in rain soaked trees,

And silvery grass.

But, as I said to begin with,

The percussionists from the band

Did not get a lot of sleep last night,

And neither did I.

Cerita M. Hewett

April 2014

After the Storm

The morning after the big storm,
While pine tuffs and sweet gum leaves
Still laid torn and green upon the ground
Where the hail had shredded them
From tall and growing trees,
The ants are already rebuilding.

Each ant struggles upward with a grain of sand,
Then scampers down into the hole for more.
Builders where nature has torn down,
Unflinching at the work before them,
Their unity of purpose,
Collaboration and energy,
Their optimism in the face of an enormous task,
Is contagious for all who pause to watch.
Cerita M. Hewett

April 2011