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