"catchment" poems
As mother nature's
Punitive measure
Against a society
In maintaining
The statuesque
That doesn't bother,
Our rivers
Had become subject
To a water thirst,
To the extent
Of projecting
Rocky ribs
Terrifyingly protruded out
For easy count!
But now thanks to
The all-out, terrace making
And reafforestation effort
Of each catchment
Farmers have made a point
And also to the afforestation
Move of the government
Rivers aside from quenching
Their insatiable thirst
Have resumed
To brim over
With floods
Drinking water
To their hearts' content.
Our forests once stripped of
Their wooded cover
Have started, fast, to recover
From afar they are seen
Robed eye-catching green
From a fry-pan sky
Allowing a shelter
Also busy
Carbon to sequester.
Wild animals
That migrated
Have preferred
Back their way to find.
Now farmers don't have
Deep to dig
To sink a water well
Or find a nearby spring.
Birds are heard chirruping
Be it winter, summer or spring,
While Brooks bubbling.
Buzzing and hovering
From this to that flower
Bees are producing
Organic honey by the hour.
Promising a bumper harvest
Farmer's plots have
Fortunately continued
To resuscitate!
Those leaving
Their denuded abode behind
Away, who preferred
To stay
'We will return back
home soon! '
Is what
They say.
Happily enough
Mother nature
Affords us a second chance
Imbued with
Environment stewardship
If we are willing to mend
Our wrong 'Feast today
famine tomorrow! ' stance.
To dispel the spectre
Of climate change
And systematically face
The global challenge
True to the adage
'We have either to
swim together
or sink together! '
Hence in fighting the challenge
Or adapting to the change
Back scratching,
We have to be on the same page.
Indeed, irrigation must
Not slip our mind
For erratic rainfall
A lasting solution
If we must find.//
Once a famous Ethiopian Poet Pro.Debebe Seifu Who had passed away had penned down a picturesque poem lamenting the land degradation, deforestation and change of climate the country was suffering.The bad scenario seemed unrecoverable.Now a days Ethiopia is reversing that sad episode.I have therefore to write a poem on this
#change #trees #erosion #climate #deforestation #enviroment #degeradation #desertification
Sep 28, 2015
Sep 28, 2015 at 4:22 AM UTC
I would argue that what is happening here isn’t the crushing of creativity but the addition of knowledge. As people get more knowledgeable they are better able to evaluate their ideas and sift out the ones that won’t work. Looking at the quantity of ideas for the use of a paperclip tells you nothing about creativity but the quality of the ideas might.
If we want pupils to be good at problem solving we need to give them a lot of knowledge with which to solve problems. There is no generic problem solving short cut we can use. The problem solving skills of “I need to put up a bookcase but have lost the instructions” is very different from the problem solving skills of “We need to resolve the conflict in the Middle East.” I we spent less time trying to find these short cuts we might have a lot fewer wonky bookcases and a little more chance of peace.
I can’t speak for all subjects and contexts but in secondary school geography we are constantly problem solving. It is what Geographers do but each problem needs a wide body of very specific knowledge. We look at how they would solve the problem of the UK’s energy mix, how they would improve housing in informal settlements and yes, even how to solve the problems in the Middle East (if someone without a knowledge of catchment hydrology tries to pontificate on the issue I wouldn’t give them the time of day).
The same applies to “creativity”. The ability to create is an important and wonderful thing. Music, art and drama should play a full and important part in the curriculum but they aren’t about teaching something as generic as “creativity”. They are about teaching the skills to allow you to be creative in that particular domain. Learning to express your creativity in art is unlikely to help you pick up the trombone and learning how to write is unlikely to make your interpretive dance any less awkward.
If you think that these things can be taught as stand alone generic skills (I assume you there is a 54% chance you are) then please do send me a lesson plan because I would love to see how it is done.
Conclusion
I think the term “21st century skills” is a nonsense. The generic skills that people will need in this century will be the same as they have needed in all of them because they are the things that make us human. I don’t think they can be taught in isolation. I don’t think we get better at “problem solving” by solving problems in different domains or better at “creativity” in one domain by practicing another.
Schools play a role in preparing children for the future and that role is to ensure they leave us as knowledgeable and well informed adults.
Aug 26, 2019
Aug 26, 2019 at 1:05 PM UTC
Kerry Rain
Now I know from whence the
excess water comes from, when
our river floods ******* house.
The catchment area between the
mountains, back here in Kerry,
is an Atlantic funnel.
Ventry winds, West laden, with
an aviated tide, make land fall
just below, in the aqua plain.
From here, it heads for the Cork-ed
plughole, where its route is marked
by bridges along the way to Mallow.
Finn.
8 March 2019
House sitting in
Co Kerry.
(Visited Ventry yesterday)
Mar 8, 2019
Mar 8, 2019 at 4:30 AM UTC
In Seville
My lock is like a wheel
that treasures the land
with strands of sand now an inroad to soul
in times of grain this platitude of health ahead of tides
the salt on shore implores unfinished deeds
as art deplores any nurturing of needs
with stars out this race beyond the chariot again
and proves that this orient has rightly won a gathering if seed roaring in a stream of catchment nigh
where these overtones are songs
and round about the fields along the Guadalquivir.
Jul 6, 2017
Jul 6, 2017 at 10:24 AM UTC
He opened his arms,
like a catchment for rain,
took their tiny fear
nurtured them
for many years,
melting moments
huddled with love,
candy hearts
made out of tears.
.
Aug 19, 2019
Aug 19, 2019 at 1:54 PM UTC
drops from a canopy
musical falling tears
a concrete step
saturated mat against the wall
faded stripes a catchment
rivulets gather & flow
to the ledge. underneath
plants drink, leaves dusted, roots spread
bulbs replace their powers
soon they will bloom
Apr 3, 2015
Apr 3, 2015 at 7:39 PM UTC
In the catchment zone
where you catch a school if
you have a home
the fishermen roam.
Rods at the ready and eyes on the wheel just
waiting to steal your place.
Aug 14, 2014
Aug 14, 2014 at 1:24 AM UTC
emanation wise
of trees
whose catchment
grieves silkworm
in its leaves
that ties are natural bounds
to flutters in the wing
and sputters wind in hurricane
their minute features spin
a lasso of fear
Sep 14, 2018
Sep 14, 2018 at 10:09 AM UTC
You've seen the eel twice now
I saw it once on
Our weekend walk and
I have to say, it was genuinely thrilling
Mysterious and often overlooked
Perhaps lost in the
Ornamental canal
Some distance from the river now
Sharing water with ducks, swans, a small
Fish family, the lonely heron
And those crab carcasses which are
A mystery unto themselves
Jul 1, 2025
Jul 1, 2025 at 6:42 AM UTC