Guidelines



Submission Guidelines: Send 1-3 unpublished poems in the body of an email (NO ATTACHMENTS) to nvneditor[at]gmail.com. No simultaneous submissions. Use "Verse News Submission" as the subject line. Send a brief bio. No payment. Authors retain all rights after 1st-time appearance here. Scroll down the right sidebar for the fine print.

Friday, April 22, 2011

SING WITH THE TREES

by Mary Saracino

Author’s note: As part of her Earth Day-Sing for the Trees campaign, Susan Hale invites people from around the world to sing to their special trees to help raise awareness about deforestation.

If you listen you can hear
the trees singing

boababs & kauri
sugi & sugar maples


their voices
rise in harmony

Norway spruce & sequoia
ginkos & elms


across the wide round world

yews & oolines
Persian mulberries & pomegranates


one steady stream

magnolia amazonica & aspen
wattle trees & oaks


one impassioned aria

crab apple & peach
olive & fig


singing, singing, singing

almond & apricot
wild cashew & carapa


to us

black walnut & cedrela odorata
mahogany & beni kawa


of peace & love
joy & justice

Divi-divi & wabito
amla & okagami


of sorrow & solace
laughter & lullabies

Chinese catalpa
Buddha coconuts


reminding us to

balsam & fur
cedar & chestnut


sing with them

pawpaw & persimmon
leatherwood & larch


breathe in
breathe out

kapok & karri
willows & birch


sigh
dance

ghost gum & guava
maiden’s blush & mangosteen


play
cry

avacado & acacia
banana & buckeye


save our lives

sumac & satsuma
sassafras & silverberry


save our planet.


Mary Saracino is a novelist, poet and memoir-writer who lives in Lafayette, CO . Her most recent novel, The Singing of Swans (Pearlsong Press 2006) was a 2007 Lambda Literary Awards Finalist. Her short story, "Vicky's Secret" earned the 2007 Glass Woman Prize.
___________________________________________