ANCIENT TREE

My wife, Eunice, was a keen observer of nature. When we went to the beach, she would examine the effects of the tides on the creatures left behind by outgoing tide. She carried binoculars to watch and record the different types of birds which would feed at the many feeding stations she would have in different areas of the yard. She watched the progress of the many trees and plants I put in the ground. She would watch for visitors, white-tailed deer, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, chipmunks and many others who would come to eat and live on our property Eunice would observe how the changes in season affected everything.

When something happened she would write wonderfully descriptive poems using nature as metaphors for what she felt. In a way, I guess I was an observer of Eunice. One day she took me to an overlook to watch Bald Eagles who were nesting and fishing in the river below. That's another story.

Eunice was brought up by her grandmother who lived with us. When her grandma died Eunice wrote many poems about how she felt. The following work is the way Eunice combined both nature and her grandma. I hope you'll enjoy it.

ANCIENT TREE

Ancient tree, aged bones cracked and bent

Branches that twist and grope, reach out,

Beckon me...

I come closer and the ground rumbles from

Beneath, with roots like wooden snakes, which

Fold and then unfold, in grotesque design,

Like pythons ready to strike, they guard their

Treasure, their sacred tree...

I touch its pitted skin, and

Whisper, who put you here years before,

Tell me all you know...

Silent is this remnant from the past,

No brain, no voice, dead...

Suddenly, it looms its head into the air

Arms and legs, thrashing, bombard me

From above,

And on the ground,

Shadows flashing, Black and white,

Attack me in the wind...

I stand motionless,

A prisoner of nature's war...

The wind slows and rocks the shadows

To sleep,

The tree nods lazily,

It knows the secrets of the past...

And lets me go.

By Eunice Verdi.