Settling In Gently by R.A.Davis

Heaven + Hell are estranged sisters eyeing each other across uncrossable distances. Each gathers her allies    mutters darkly about the other.    Envy might glint, sometimes, in their eyes. Heaven plants her roots, sends up fronds    sweet green shoots    and harvests ripe. Hell skims lightly over the world    undoes bindings. Heaven seals     with honey and wax. Hell dissolves,     molecules sigh into their component parts. Heaven keeps a tidy yard,    bakes fresh bread,    remembers. Hell, she walks out the gate,    leaves salty footprints (no backward glance)    in her wake.    She forgets. (From a classroom prompt based on X. J. Kennedy's fantastic poem, "Nothing in Heaven Functions as it Ought." I had the kids brainstorm connotations and denotations of heaven and hell, and compare them to the Hawaiian concept of the afterworld, Keao...

   The hollows and rough edges on elm trees    the startled up-look of a deer    the shallow whisper of the creek Come with me and see!    200 tones of green    from emerald to scum whitegreen underside of oak-leaf greenblack shine of dogwood slick green rocks softgreen moss    Come with me    lift the stones suddenly      if the crawdads    will startle us    prod the soft rotten log come with me and    whisper secret names into the hollows    half-glimpse fairies    half-hear gnomes Come and follow the narrow path Swing a stick-sword    swoop away the spiderwebs or else they'll snag our mouths and eyes invisibly tiny spiders jeweling us Come and hear the complete quiet    the hush of high-up branches in the air    the careful step of our own small feet over the earth Come and greet the forest o...