Valerie Wan 2A'06

I drew inspiration for this poem from Samuel Taylor Coleridge; I liked the way his poems narrated a story, and his references to nature. I wrote this poem to show the duality of Nature, and illustrated the contrasting themes in Nature by starting the poem with the beginning of life, where the birds came into the world. I went on about Nature’s resilience by not giving into unfavorable circumstances. In the third stanza, I wrote about death – the dead log. However, as fungi can be found scattered all over the log, we can see Nature thriving despite the presence of death. Here, I narrated the poem as a walk along the path of life, a course that everyone has to take.

a bird's nest we saw in a tree

the little weeds peeping out from the cracks of the ground

mushrooms growing out from a dead log

The Path

As we walked along the path
Nature’s beauty unfolded before us
I looked up and saw a ray of light
There among the yellow leaves nestled alone
A place the birds called home
There they were brought to life
There they’ll learn to take flight
Spread their wings far and wide
To soar to unprecedented heights

As we walked along the path
Nature’s beauty unfolded before us
Green shrubs, algae, moss and grass
Between the cracks of the path
Swaying in the wind
Never giving in
To exert yet to caress,
Oh challenges thy mind digress.

As we walked along the path
Nature’s beauty unfolded before us
Magnificent trees, beautiful flowers, species of all kinds
Boundless, incessant one may find
But none caught my eye
There on a dying log they strived
There among the dead they survived
“I am amazed by the ascendancy of God” I cry

As we walked along the path
Nature’s beauty unfolded before us
I ponder
I wonder
I shiver in awe of its majesty
Pulled from all reality
What marvelous things that we see
Oh! What beauty that lies within thee

As we walked along the path
Nature’s beauty unfolded before us


Valerie Wan
2A'06