Among The Trees

Among The Trees

Inspired by ‘When I Am Among The Trees’ by Mary Oliver and written to participate in an online Zoom reading with Black Dog Poetry @poetryblackdogbookco May 12, 2020

it is quite fine to live among the beech and the white oak

the pine and the maple these days

while a violent discontent rattles in the distance

disturbing my senses and

jarring my sleep with

wild dreams and cold sweat

here, in the woods

tucked away in a spring-fed hollow

i nestle in a simple place

each day, i watch and listen

i watch the bobbing rump of the palm warbler

within the clover, the male house finch feeding

fledglings as they grapple with fresh awkward wings

i listen to the late-day ee-oh-lay of the wood thrush

somewhere off in the branches, and hope the barred owl couple

call during their nightly hunt

the eastern bluebirds laid five eggs,their

first clutch of the season, tiffany-blue promises

each one hatched in its time – one a day later

than the rest

they should have fledged last wednesday

or thursday, certainly friday at the latest

but each morning, no calls from the trees

just worms and grubs delivered by patient parents

did the parents keep them in the nest to protect them against the cold?

did they want the smallest to gain more strength?

sunday morning, mother’s day, there were no answers

simply a well-loved empty nest and

new songs high among the leaves