THE NAKED TREE: Ramblings, Poetry and Snippets of Reality

By Laurie B. Ballard

A positively delightful, yet insightful collection of short stories, poetry, and various ramblings. The author’s natural rhythm and flow of words invite the reader to read out loud. 

The Naked Tree sheds its leaves each fall to renew again each Spring, while its roots remain grounded with Mother Earth. Life is the Soul’s Journey of expansion, awareness and consciousness that never ends. It’s about tapping into infinite intelligence and allowing our innate inner truth to channel through us. This book is the creativity that is in each and every one of us. 

Written with humor, honesty and innate wisdom, the words in this book reminds us that the human drama, although tortuous at times, is just one big school of higher learning, that never ends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hawes & Jenkins Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 6, 2024
• ISBN: 9781637844861

Book preview

cover.jpg

THE NAKED TREE

Ramblings, Poetry and Snippets of Reality

Laurie B. Ballard

ISBN 978-1-63784-485-4 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63784-486-1 (digital)

Copyright © 2024 by Laurie B. Ballard

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Hawes & Jenkins Publishing

16427 N Scottsdale Road Suite 410

Scottsdale, AZ 85254

www.hawesjenkins.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

The Naked Tree

Seasons

Love Evolution

The Spotted Bear

Rats

Bird's Eye View of God

Front Row Seat

Blind Ruckus Riley

As Limber As A Cat

Abstract Heart

Portland

Bent

The Swallows

The Sales Associate

Sweet Lover Sounds

Moving Day

Rise Above

Marge The Barge

Stepping Stones

The Red Chair

Oral Report

The Bridge

Just Bread

Ladder Rungs

Talking Feet

Black Cat

3 Scenes

Ode To Someone…

Morning Mountain Haiku

Curse-ed Lips

Limericks On the Verge

Pretending To Be Sad

Cat Fight

The Cage

Church Without Walls

Attraction

Warrior

In the Crevice

About the Author

For Floy Katherine Ballard… Much Love

The Naked Tree

In the taupe of the late afternoon

The tree remembered who it was.

Shaking leaves off spindly limbs,

Unraveling ancient myths,

This plethora of greens,

A forest scene on canvas.

Tumbling thru funnels of wind,

Turning yellow, orange and red,

This fallen sight of autumn.

Standing still under silver moonlight

The bare tree remembered who it was.

The stark reality of connections,

Of many dimensions intertwined,

With nature in all directions.

The possibilities in sight.

A perfect naked tree,

Conscious of it's

Sacred journey

To Oneness.

Its roots

Journey on,

Unseen below,

For their search

Of minute sips of

Precious water, every

Drop offering a wish, a

Quest to reconcile yesterday,

And fortitude to emerge stronger

Tomorrow, and the never ending now.

The naked tree

After shedding

Its leaves

Knows nothing

Of shame

Nor anxiety.

Standing tall

It delivers

A gift of life

For Gaia

Nature

Humanity

And all.

Seasons

Leaves mingle with dark and sun,

Mocking the shadows upon the patio fencing.

Shifting and turning inside and out,

Scratching and delicately sketching

Erratic designs into the darkened wood.

Autumn was official.

The wind signed it in,

The sun checked it off,

The sky filed it under

‘Seasons'.

Above the earth where cats and dogs

Never prowl,

Tiny birds were whirling from bushes,

Spiraling high

Without a care.

Chirping, discussing, debating, singing.

Might they know,

The season was changing?

Love Evolution

The new earth is coming

Sooner than you think

Later than you can imagine.

Don't walk in the shadows

Come into the light

One second is all it would take.

It's just craziness and distractions

The background noise you hear

The noise is there to shake you up

So drown out the noise and shut it out.

Love is what's really going on

It's all that's really in this song

This love revolution we're creating.

Not from without but from within

Our hearts will start to beat again

Leaving false beliefs and fears all behind.

There's only one problem

And only one solution

The answer's the simplicity of Love.

The revolution is here

For our evolution

Now's the time for everyone

To. Be. The. Revolution.

The Spotted Bear

Hibernation ended.

Silence sent the invitation.

Unhurried strolls

Across the roads,

As nature had intended.

Lupine crowd the valley floor.

Poppies shout out loud in orange.

The million feet that used to be,

Are walking here no more.

The waterfalls for no one,

As boulders sit in boredom.

Flowering weeds

And wind blown seeds,

Rejoice in ecstasy.

Brown bears, the deer

The lone coyote,

Habitate the scene.

No need to look both ways

These days,

Just to cross the street.

Then came a roar, a rumble

Followed by a screech.

A bear they spotted

Running.

Then climbing up a tree.

The thing that roared

Slammed the brakes,

And rested in the shade.

Eight feet poured out,

Walked about,

Then all began to shout.

Look up there,

Way up high,

I think I see a bear.

Where's my phone?

I need to shoot

A picture of that bear.

Hence came a change from that day

For Nature and the Park.

The noxious fumes, the litter

And hazing of the stars.

The day the bear was spotted

Walking in the park.

Rats

No more tails of rats.

We won't put up with that.

Just cats, not rats,

Cats sporting hats.

No rat a tat tats,

Or fat flying bats