eric sundin

A tree will grow
almost anywhere
perfectly slow
of what, whom aware?

We cannot you or me
thrive between boulders
Lacking unlike the tree
patience, behold hers!

In Nature’s fashion bedight
to torrid heat or freeze inured
in dark or blinding sunlight
has stoically endured

Against faint skyline etching
foliage edges clear
Imperceptibly stretching
the tree shall persevere

While trees shivering in still silence
humans rage in chainsaw violence

+)
bedight = adorn; to dress or decorate especially in splendid or impressive attire

edited 02/05/26 1105

Vanligtvis skämtsam
är väl gubben Sundin
tror sej va hjälpsam
men tyvärr kort stubin

Tröttsamt enträgen
inbillar sej skojfrisk
sällan förlägen
ogärna kåserisk

En man besynnerlig
tvär å säregen
livsföring underlig
sällan förtegen

Fast förtvivlad av livets avoghet
slår hans arma hjärta i idoghet

edited 04/03/25 0720

We plunge focused like the gannet
in the contemporary
promptly pillaging the Planet
for ends pecuniary

Under lame pretext of Progress
while fouling our Species’ Nest
With Technology we obsess
betraying Those Coming Next

But those of us simply not aware
surely can’t be expected to care?!

+)
gannet = large heavily built seabird with a long stout bill who feeds itself by plunging dives for fish

edited 06/14/25 2055

Aren’t words fading of meaning
in to something we just utter
to buttress our keen preening
we spread them thickly like butter?

With screens abound who needs pedagogy
when we have all pictures & emoji?

Silly vanity
of ignorance willful
and inanity
of ineptness skillful

When we’re selecting words on how they sound
then how wouldn’t sentences get out of bounds?

edited 07/14/24 0715

Do our character flaws
whatever the cause
detract like tearing jaws
or mere scratching paws?

Flaws shall keep us estranged
make us seem deranged
and while feeling shortchanged
still persist unchanged

Human Nature unruly
which we ought but abhor
it keeps us ensnared cruelly
Just doesn’t work to ignore

Keeps persisting immutably
while doing so inscrutably

edited 04/01/23 1715

This verse was first written in 2018 for my son Matt, who was then living through droughts & wildfires in Topanga, amidst the marked decline of the United States. In 2020 Matt moved to Sweden, where his father is from.

Trust in your guts & brains
take your leave from Topanga
find a ‘sane’ place with rains
but don’t retrace to Tonga

as The Islands getting hotter
long since Garden of Eden
not long until under water
While you’re welcome in Sweden

Faint prescience is all it takes
plus aptitude for a new language
So why wait to pull up the stakes
why wallow in anomie anguish?

+)
-anomie = a society characterized by a breakdown of social norms and values, here: The U.S.
-Tonga = a South Pacific island nation, to where Matt’s great grandparents emigrated (from Sweden before WW1 and where his grandfather spent his childhood
-Topanga, CA = just outside Los Angeles

edited 07/23/24 0830

Mired in impotency pained
all inspiration gone
Of fresh material drained
my well too deeply drawn

Shaft been echoing eerily
after known reserves were drawn
Been reduced to watch wearily
depleted in guts & brawn

After short fused she took off my muse
on some perhaps booze induced type cruise

edited 04/04/24 0920

Polluting & depleting
we’re fouling our own nest!
A planet overheating
but hey, we’re on a quest!

Whether by plain obliviousness
narcissistic dereliction
or shackled by lasciviousness
must end with species eviction

Yeah but, won’t our mindlessness be excused
as we’re by snappy ‘yeah but’ quips bemused?

+)
-‘yeah but’ quip = such as: “Oceans rising? Yeah but, won’t we all get waterfront property then!”

edited 11/09/23 0820

Varför bry sej om ‘lagom’
närsom numera anses larv?
När uppfylls var önskedröm
utav konsument slös å slarv?

Fast tillsynes rena godtycket
anses ‘lagom’ otillräckligt
Att tro att nått kan bli för mycket
vore ogirigt förskräckligt

så ‘överflöd’ löper sitt ärevarv
i detta förvirrande tidevarv

edited 12/08/25 0940