Dear Friends,

Literature and nature bring us together. A few years ago, Darwin studied gravitropism, i.e., a growth response, of plants, to gravity. He removed surgically the caps of roots and then verified how they would grow. To his surprise the roots started to grow without the influence of gravity. This is to stress that nature contains mysteries and influences our imagination… Poetry seams to follow the same principals. This is the case of the poem that won the 2^nd place. Congratulations to Jill Hall.

“A Quarantine Visitor” by Jill G. Hall (USA)

In the quiet summer sun

on my San Diego patio

a plump lizard basks.

“Hello,” I whisper. Her

smile sly, eyes button-beads,

skin resembling grandma’s purse.

Prolific in our childhood garden

my brother Sandy saved them

in shoeboxes, fed them flies.

Sometimes he’d pick one up,

snigger as its tail fell off, 

wiggled about. He’d chase

me with the terrible    

Tyrannosaurus Rexes

in his outstretched hands.

Terrified I’d cry, run away

until the day I grit my teeth,

stood my ground, patted its

crusty head. After that

he stopped pestering me.

At least not with reptiles.

He often kissed them until

one bit him on the lower lip

and like mom would say he

screamed bloody murder.

I think he still has a scar.

I feared those dears had

become extinct long ago.

It’s interesting what a coronavirus

can do to shift the balance back.

Enjoy.