Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Ode to the Palm Frond’s Secret Geometry

 A L O H A  From
H O N O L U L U
Whatever our individual troubles and challenges may be, it’s important to pause every now and then to appreciate all that we have, on every level.
Shakti Gawain




Ode to the Palm Frond’s 
Secret Geometry
[A palm frond consists of a rachis, which is the central stalk, and pinnae, which are the individual leaflets or blades that attach to the rachis.]

Between each pinna, 
green and long,
Tiny triangles, 
Notes in a song—
Slivers of sky, 
a puzzle’s trace,
Where sunlight slips in 
to find its place.

The rachis, proud, 
a central spine,
Hosts these triangles 
in a line;
A vertebrae of 
empty space,
A necklace made 
of light and grace.

Oh, what a sly 
and clever scheme
To lace the world 
with gaps between!
For every leaf 
that meets its stem,
A triangle blooms, 
a secret gem.

Such order, and oddness, 
side by side—
A beauty found 
where shapes collide.
A spine of spaces, 
sly and bright,
Spanned in laughter, 
arranged in light.
    Cloudia Charters




You may not know where you're going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the winds will carry you.
 C. JoyBell C







Love is wise; hatred is foolish. In this world, which is getting more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other, we have to learn to put up with the fact that some people say things that we don't like. We can only live together in that way. . .we must learn a kind of charity and a kind of tolerance, which is absolutely vital to the continuation of human life on this planet.
Bertrand Russell



ꢔꢔꢔꢔꢔꢔꢔꢔꢔꢔꢔꢔꢔꢔ

 Love You, 

 Pixie & Cloudia 






13 comments:

Teresa said...

Pixie looks like she's wondering why you wrote an ode to a palm frond and NOT an ode to Pixie cat and if you had to write an ode to a vegetative plant, why oh why didn't you write your ode to the deliciousness of catnip???

s.c said...

Nice that little talk about a palm.

roentare said...

Thank you for the positive messages

Anvilcloud said...

You find good photos, and the first one is quite stunning.

Tom said...

...Mother Nature is quite a mathematician.

eileeninmd said...

Hello Cloudia,
I love your poem and the kind and wise words.
Beautiful photos. Take care, have a wonderful day!

Barbara Rogers said...

Love turning nature's geometry into poetry! Thanks for Russell's quote, as we certainly are having more and more closeness with all other people.

William Kendall said...

Pixie sees duckies.

RedPat said...

Love your ode to a palm, Cloudia. ;-)

Kathy G said...

Thank you for being observant enough to see the specialness of a simple palm frond.

Rajani Rehana said...

Beautiful😍

Martha Jane Orlando said...

I absolutely loved your poem about the palm frond, Cloudia. So full of imagery that truly shows your keen gift of observation. Blessings!

Anne Hagman-Niilola said...

Lovely post!