THE RAIN FOREST

From the floor into the sky,
The Forest has so much to catch your eye.
It’s beauty grand will overwhelm,
A magical enchanted realm.

Let’s start down low,
What lurks below?
The forest floor
With so much more.
From bark and sticks
(No doubt some ticks)
To leaves half decomposed,
It’s rich nutrients enclosed.
From jaguars to a tiny bug,
The forest floor makes the perfect rug.

Now moving up there’s the under-story,
Standing thick in all her glory.
This sprouts new life in seedling form,
For more unique life it creates a dorm.
Young trees, shrubs and vines,
More animals of different kinds.
Here insects, ants and butterflies
Share with geckos, birds and owls so wise.
Monkeys, bats and of course snakes,
A special ecosystem this sure makes.

The canopy is a leafy world.
Here you may find in a ball curled
The cutest sloth so fast asleep,
While monkeys on their way past leap.
So many birds in this do nest,
The canopy as their home is best.
Here they find both seeds and fruit,
And sing a song just like a flute.
This is the busiest layer you cannot deny.
Ninety percent choose here to occupy.

To venture up is now quite daring,
But here a few the sun are sharing.
It’s very high and a fall is feared,
The distance down is two hundred feet cleared.
This lovely layer of emergent trees
Shares with few it’s lovely breeze.

From bottom to top this forest lives.
So much to us it always gives.
How can man choose to cut it down?
To take away Earth’s beauty renown.
Is there the need to clear I plead?
Is life less important than man’s greed?
The plants and their inhabitants -
To us should be most prominent.
Can’t we learn to be cohabitants?
Man thinks that he is dominant.

Poem by Sourcherry
Photographs from Pixabay