Poems of life

Survival vs. Bushcraft

"Nature’s Dance"
Survival’s call is urgent and sharp,
A fight for life, a beating heart.
Shelter, water, food to find,
A primal race against the grind.

Bushcraft whispers, slower, still,
Crafting tools with patient skill.
A partnership with earth’s embrace,
Not just to live, but thrive in place.

One’s a battle, the other, an art,
Both essential, worlds apart.
Together they teach, together they blend,
Nature’s lessons without end.

Shelter in the Wild

"A Roof of Stars"
Beneath the sky so vast and wide,
No walls to hold, no place to hide.
But with my hands, a space I weave,
A home from branches, leaves, reprieve.

The bark, the twine, the earth, the stone,
No need for steel, no need for phone.
Each knot tied is a tether to land,
A story told by the work of my hand.

When storms may roar or cold winds bite,
I rest in warmth through the longest night.
A humble haven, small yet true,
Where survival blooms and dreams renew.

A Roof of Stars

Beneath the sky so vast and wide,
No walls to hold, no place to hide.
But with my hands, a space I weave,
A home from branches, leaves, reprieve.

The bark, the twine, the earth, the stone,
No need for steel, no need for phone.
Each knot tied, a tether to land,
A story told by the work of my hand.

The rain may fall, the wind may cry,
But here I’ll rest, beneath the sky.
A roof of stars, a floor of ground,
In this shelter, peace is found.

No bricks, no mortar, no polished steel,
Just the world as it was, pure and real.
A place to pause, a space to breathe,
Where the wild offers all I need.

Teaching the Next Generation

"The Lessons of Dirt"
Let them dig, let them climb,
Let them waste unmeasured time.
Let the mud beneath their nails,
Tell stories that no screen regales.

In the soil, their hands shall play,
Building castles that won’t stay.
Yet in their hearts, they’ll always hold,
The courage found, the tales retold.

The trees will teach them how to stand,
The wind will shape their open hands.
From earth’s embrace, they’ll come to know,
The seeds of life they’ll help to grow.

The Lessons of Dirt

Let them dig, let them climb,
Let them waste unmeasured time.
Let the mud beneath their nails,
Tell stories that no screen regales.

In dirt’s embrace, their spirits grow,
With every worm and root they know.
They’ll learn that life begins below,
Where seeds take hold, where rivers flow.

The soil will teach them how to stand,
How storms may shape the strongest hand.
The squish of mud between their toes,
A wisdom every child should know.

For in the dirt, they’ll find their worth,
The grounded joy of nature’s mirth.
Unplugged, unbound, in earth they’ll play,
And carry its lessons on their way.

Let them laugh, let them fall,
Let them answer the wild’s call.
For every smudge and every stain,
Is proof they’ve danced through nature’s rain.

Disconnecting to Reconnect

"The Stillness Speaks"
I put the phone down, turned away,
The hum of silence begged to stay.
No buzzing feeds, no endless scroll,
Just time to sit and know my soul.

At first, the quiet felt so strange,
A hollow void, a sudden change.
But in that stillness, came a song,
The world had waited all along.

The breeze that danced, the birds that sung,
The life that bloomed where I’d begun.
In letting go, I came to see,
The beauty of simplicity.

Thriving Beyond Survival

"Roots and Wings"
Survive, they say, and hold your ground,
Keep safe until the sun comes ‘round.
But thriving calls for more than fear,
It asks for joy to hold us near.

A fire not just to warm the cold,
But to gather stories, dreams retold.
A meal not just to stave the pain,
But to savor life in sun or rain.

To thrive is to dance where others walk,
To grow beyond where shadows stalk.
It’s living boldly, deep and wide,
With nature’s hand as your guide.

The Whispering Silence

I left behind the hum, the glow,
The endless scroll, the status quo.
To find a world both fierce and mild,
A silent hymn, the voice of wild.

The trees don’t ask, the stars don’t shout,
The rivers run, with or without.
No validation, no urgent plea,
Just timeless whispers, calling me.

I walked through fields of emerald waves,
Through forests dark, through sandstone caves.
And in the quiet, I became,
A soul unchained, a simpler name.

No notifications, no alarm,
Just morning mist and twilight’s charm.
Each breath I took was sweet and rare,
A sacred gift, the open air.

The world, I found, was whole and true,
Its colors rich, its patterns new.
And in its calm, it offered me,
A mirror of who I could be.

So let the silence sing its song,
A melody where we belong.
In nature’s arms, I made my way,
And found myself along the way.