Tiny Seed Literary Journal – nature-inspired poetry, prose, photography and art

Literary Owl Nature Writer

Voyage of the Young Blue jay

21 Sep 202318 Sep 2023

The young jay will soon leave the nest Leaving behind his grasp of comfort and safety Entering into the unknown ambition and wonder Of far-reaching adventure He'll take off in…

Nature

as they arrive

21 Sep 20233 Sep 2023

oh daffodils!words of Wordsworththe only cuethe yellow trumpetsin graceblow the tunesfor the snowto disappearas the spring arrives Kamakshi Lekshmanan Kamakshi Lekshmanan arrived home through her forest and mountain trails. Poetry…

Nature

Prairie Promise

20 Sep 20233 Sep 2023

If you stand where the two paths cross,you’ll see bumblebees on Bergamot,blue dragonflies riding tall grasses,Black-eyed Susans swaying in the wind. Hold very still to feel heat rise,cocoon you in…

Nature

Clever Little Green Thing

19 Sep 20233 Sep 2023

Wildflower. Bifurcated,heart shaped,with an appealing taper.You grow on the outskirts(and under the skirts)of the Labrador Violetsyou mimic. Lynne Shapiro Lynne Shapiro lives in Hoboken, New Jersey with her husband and…

Nature

This Spring

18 Sep 20233 Sep 2023

this spring I’ll only sow wildflowersnothing ediblenothing usefulnothing productivenothing that needs my attention or my effortnothing that needs tending or staking or potting or weeding or cutting or trimmingnothing that…

Nature

An Unknown Family of Flowers

17 Sep 202317 Sep 2023

Their heads are enchantingly unblue,like the aftermath of a war between a white sock and inky blue topor the fresh hello of snow, the over-confident bleach spoton an old pair…

Nature

Moonlit Marsh

16 Sep 20233 Sep 2023

Moonlight trickled throughoaks, elms, and sweetgumsdressed in bright mossy skirts ofmalachite-colored sequins. Yellow and orange-red tubular flowersof cross vine adorned their trunks.Tree limbs swayed to sustained winds,clattered with crescendo gusts.…

Nature

Morning Glory

15 Sep 20233 Sep 2023

walk with me into sacred woods show me the way through deserts I take you up this woodland path you find our way to water I point out vines and…

Nature

Three Maine Haiku

14 Sep 20233 Sep 2023

Along Route 1Coastal route borderedby tall glories of lupines:The way June should be. Irish SpringA stroke of Spring’s bowunfurls fiddleheads fancyin jig of green joy. You’ll Nev-uh Be a Maine-uhInvasive…

Nature

Comfort Mugunghwas

13 Sep 20233 Sep 2023

Oh Mugunghwas, how do you bloom,Your heart so pure they too assumed,They took your joy, your sweet soft nectar,They took your stems and leaves so tender,They took your sun but…

Nature

Skunk Cabbage

12 Sep 20233 Sep 2023

More colorful than my namesake.Less odor. Shunned despite deep butter-yellowshinting at sunflower fields, my central flower shieldedby furled green leaves. As medicine, best to avoidmy bitter roots without the required…

Nature

11 Sep 20233 Sep 2023

“No day shall erase you from the memory of time,” Virgil

Nature

Wild Oats

9 Sep 20233 Sep 2023

Not the one that looks like a weedblowing seed to wind.No, the showier one—Uvularia sessilifolia, Bellwort,Merry Bells.One of the first wildflowers to pop up in spring.Like a rambunctious kidsweeping through…

Nature

Forget-Me-Nots

8 Sep 20233 Sep 2023

(Myosotis sylvatica) Fifteen months after my mother’s death I sprinkled portions of her cremains in meaning-filled areas as I trekked around England. what have you noticed as you walk the…

Nature

Snow drops

7 Sep 20233 Sep 2023

Their bowed heads tremble in the displaced air from the Broad Street traffic Nestled between last year’s leaves, this year’s grass, and everything we’ve discarded a limp surgical mask, a…

Nature

Heart of the Earth

6 Sep 20233 Sep 2023

I am the amethyst studded stalk of self-heal.You have named me well - blue earth, heart-of-the-earthhealing the hurt of the world with my purple dressings.Generosity fills every part of me.Place…

Nature

summer sorrow songs

5 Sep 20233 Sep 2023

sing to the wind andthe grass will harmonize flowers begin to cry outover the wailing chorussharp blades sendingscreams bouncinglike pinball in the woodsending up in bark and twigsstored, only releasedby…

Nature

Tiburon Lily

4 Sep 20233 Sep 2023

Start any time so long as it’s the lastof May, the first of June—and morning, pleasewhen the hillside listens for your footfall, and shadows teaseeach hollow in the rock with…

Nature

Lamentations of an Orchid

3 Sep 202331 Aug 2023

Before the transitionI was delivered with carein the finest of greenhouses caressed and soothedby skillful hands and gentle raysof indirect sunlight life was full of promisehope ever boundlesslike my ancestors…

Nature

Ode to a Lady’s Slipper

2 Sep 202331 Aug 2023

I am hardly ever able to pass by a lady’s slipper without stopping to see its curvaceous blossom— a long, pink and white balloon with a delicate entryway concealed between…

Poetry of the Wild Flowers

Dandelion Application

1 Sep 20239 Aug 2023

It’s a bad rap, his ex-con image: rough-edged leaves and desire to lay low to the ground, but his references vouch for his many talents. They say he’ll work anywhere…