Trees...for weeks now you've waited...

Trees

 

 

 

 

for weeks now

you've waited

buds filled to bursting

redder now as the day's song

grows louder

as light creeps in

between your sepals

tufted gems

opening slowly

imperceptibly

but surely

upon the branch

Maple you are called

whose elixir

fuels spring's passion

sweetens both bread

and air

tempers the shift

before settling once more

in your sapwood

crimson puffs

on dainty twigs

fit for phoebes

and wrens

swaying in a

pond-rippling breeze

warm enough now

for violas and other posies

for your birth on the bough

as that of stars

on moonless nights

https://www.amazon.com/Rachel-Lovejoy/e/B00JJ259DS

Trees...you've shaken your great heads...

Trees

you've shaken your great heads

in consternation

all these thousands of years

at the Great Destroyer

the worm

that tunnels through

the soil at your feet

through men's minds

devouring

consuming

leaving behind

a vast blank black space

where goodness

cannot root

cannot thrive

for such things

need the wetness of tears

the warmth of embraces

tease of wind

and the glimmer of stars

to sprout

to grow

to fill the world

with color

to trim the void

making of it the small

insubstantial

immaterial thing

it deserves to be

you've told us

time and again

you've used the wind

to keen in the night

you've quaked and trembled

offered yourselves as

sacrifice as restitution

atonement for wrongs

you yourselves

were never guilty of

could never be

held accountable for

and all you ask

all you ever ask

is one small thing

that we not wonder

if you shed your leaves

 

sooner

 

this year

　

　

 

https://www.amazon.com/Rachel-Lovejoy/e/B00JJ259DS

Tree...you are not flesh and blood..

Tree

 

 

you are not flesh and blood

yet you bleed

redeemed by your very presence

and unquestioning nature

while I

eternal doubter

marvel at the single drop

each blossom

sheds for my sins

or are they tears

at my christening

whereby I am cleansed

anew washed clean

because of a promise

written in blood

wine mixed with water

to soften its edge

to ease my culpability

 

or is it both

for one cannot be

without the other

he could not have bled

on you

been torn apart

on you

redeemed me from your height

had he not first

blessed the sea

had you not first

 wept


https://www.amazon.com/Rachel-Lovejoy/e/B00JJ259DS



Trees...you are the earth's stole...

Trees

 

you are the earth's stole

draped about her shoulders

as drunk on moonshine

or sun-crazed

she points and pirouettes

through the void

her heart

filled to bursting

 

she wears you well

tucks you in here

demurely

drapes you there

seductively

but always with grace

with good taste

never out of fashion

 

and then

at night

the gilded chariots gone

the blue song stilled

the sea floor cleared

she

pulls you in tight

against the chill

against icy stars

falling about her

catching in you

making of you

her crown

https://www.amazon.com/Rachel-Lovejoy/e/B00JJ259DS

Trees...your baubles...

Trees

your baubles

strewn across your velvet

are many

you wear them well

jay blue







and cardinal red

finch gold

bunting indigo

raven ebony

the pearl

of an eagle's crown

cling to fingers

and wrists

scatter across

sky and earth

along branch and twig

rhinestones

restless crystals

living gems

hungry for light

as you are

dip dive

soar sparkle

and sometimes

even sing


https://www.amazon.com/Rachel-Lovejoy/e/B00JJ259DS

Trees...you are patient as saints...

Trees



you are patient

as saints

perseverant

valiant

beneath your burdens

of snow

bending at the wind's will

and other times

still straight

and inscrutable

as a thought

that never found voice

never saw the light of day

but you

who have seen many days

and much light

many nights stars moons

 

that shone on ancient deeds

and things

no longer remembered

bore it all

locked it away in rings

that multiplied each year

how many springs

unto old age

long you wait

and persevere

and with what

quick stroke

will you end

in what dim light

be borne

beneath

the very snows

you carried

uncomplaining

in your laden arms

etchings

against a winter sky


https://www.amazon.com/Rachel-Lovejoy/e/B00JJ259DS

Trees...he is a speck

Trees

 

 

he is a speck

moving across

your white sea

a shape

 

shifting

stopping

to reconnoiter

before moving on

to the next spot

where fish might

be waiting

hours pass

during which I wonder

does he ponder

his current state

and the fact that

if not for the ice

he wouldn't be

there

at all

or does he look at you

around him

what can you

be thinking

ringing the pond

that way

bare bones

against

an equally bare sky

where the sun

does not lie

but shows all

he leaves once

goes ashore

then returns to sit

and waits

and waits

one jot

on a bare canvas

one man

alone

with that sky

with that stillness

then he is gone

no trace of him

from this distance

other than

a tiny memory

shadow

there

on a white

waveless sea

and

that stillness

https://www.amazon.com/Rachel-Lovejoy/e/B00JJ259DS