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Saturday, October 8, 2011

Mangrove Wetlands - Beauty Amidst Biodiversity

There was really so much to see here at the Bako National Park, and to write about in my posts, that I have to have at least three separate posts. One, mainly concerning  the fauna, one on the flora, and the third just on the beauty of the mangrove forest environment. Let's start with the scenery. I took hundreds of photographs here, and wish I could share all of them with you. It is so difficult to have to choose only a few. Actually, some people might say that one scene looks pretty much like another...after all, they're all of the mangrove swamp, the sea, the sky, the rocks, the mud...yeah, I know that, but I love each of them!


It isn't that I've never seen mangrove before. It is just that it is only now, since I have begun to see nature through the lens, that I appreciate them even more.








































These 'shoots' sticking out of the mud are actually aerial roots that require air to breathe. 



Living Together


come up for air
breathe 
we shall survive
even in the harshest of environments
in the murkiest of intertidal existences
there's symbiosis
in our relationship
and there's strength in that
you are my buffer 
between the sea and the shoreline
you absorb the shocks from waves and storms
and I'm the buttress that anchors you
in the ebbing of the tide and time

come up for air 
breathe
and look around 
beyond the mudflats of this wetland
there's beauty above ground
reach up and take
all that is out there 
the air is ours to have and to share
our lives are intertwined with all who live here
 no discord nor enmity nor fear
let kindness and acceptance be our theme song of camaraderie
and together we shall flourish
in this wild menagerie

(For Poetry Picnic - Prompt: Relationships)
(For Thursday Poets Rally)

rosiegan October 2011

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17 comments:

  1. Lovely shots, but what did you do there? In some of the shots you seem to be standing above, where are you standing with those shots? It looks like those mangroves are dying, why?

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  2. Very good compositions in your photos.

    Regards and best wishes

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  3. Aerial roots? Amazing!

    SHADOW PLAY

    Shadows like horses, shadow likes chicks,
    Shadows like houses built with red bricks;

    Shadows much taller than a high wall—
    No matter their shape, I love them all!


    © 2011 by Magical Mystical Teacher

    Tortured Shadows and Twisted Shadows

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  4. great shadow shots across the water...

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  5. Beautiful captures and such a lovely and interesting looking place! Terrific looking blog! Look forward to visiting again! Hope your weekend is going well! Enjoy!

    Sylvia

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  6. Amazing shots and beautiful words!

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  7. How interesting. Thank you for sharing your thought on it too.

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  8. I see what you mean, it is a completely different kind of an adventure when you first look through the lens - and you see motifs everywhere you look :)

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  9. it is cool to discover beauty above the ground.
    your nature shots are beautiful.

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  10. Beautiful poem and fabulous pics!

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  11. That must have been an experience - I have never been in a swamp. Thanks for sharing!

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  12. Beautiful shadow captures!

    Late visiting for shadow shot, please visit my entry when you get a chance. Have a good week ahead!

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  13. Wonderful photos, we have heavy mangroves in some areas in the state that I live in in the U.S. I love nature too--plants, animals, birds and the beautiful waterways that we have here in abundance.

    I loved your poem too--I like the take on the prompt of relationships that you used. We are all in relationship to each other and everything around us--that is so true.

    Gayle ~

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  14. Love the pics and love your words.Warm the heart!!Just beautiful work.

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  15. Lovely landscape. I have been to a mangrove so I know how pretty it is.

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  16. such a strong ending and goes so well with these images so well done
    http://gatelesspassage.com/2011/10/10/the-bird-of-love/

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