Here are two free verse poems, one by Jane Wood and another by me. Mine was written after seeing the demise of an oak tree, apparently still in good condition and with little evidence of rot or dead branches.
Fall of a friend
The brown plastic sheath which guarded sapling
Has no use.
Partly broken, it leans back in the hedge and rejoices at
The tree it shielded,
Which, losing its summer coat, views brothers, fields and distant hills
Its older, bigger brother stands alongside – majestic, strong,
Until the bucking, greedy chainsaw comes.
Harsh and whining,
It spits out the tree’s cartilage until with one last heightened glance and roar,
The living, beauteous thing …..
Falls.
Its moist life force gone,
Its spirit is now entombed in suburban furniture and posts and rails,
And roars its rings away in wood burners.
No bracing feel of dancing wind or pride at fecund acorn crop.
Dear feller
Think twice before you engage those hungry teeth with the wooden flesh of
ages.
And when at last she falls, as all must,
Ensure the guard is used again to nurture future oaken kings.
John Somers
Vi
It was January the seventh
When Vi died.
Once the communal tears
Had all dried
I brought her back
To reside in
My wardrobe.
As I wore dresses
Covered in bold prints
She ventured out
In a cloud of
Lily-of-the-Valley
Holding out china plates,
Refilling glasses,
And sipping Babycham.
Jane Wood
We will now take a break and return to the Payhembury Poetry Pot in the winter, when many people have more time to ponder and write. I would be interested in your thoughts on whether we could widen the scope of the writing to embrace, for example, short stories and writing to a particular title such as ‘A day I will always remember’ or ‘An embarrassing experience’ or ‘What I like about where I live’. If you have any thoughts on this, please do contact me on 01884 277390 or j.w.somers@exeter.ac.uk
My thanks to all those who have sent in their work. John Somers
Previous poems can be seen at:
http://www.payhembury.org.uk/payhembury-poetry-pot-limericks/
http://www.payhembury.org.uk/payhembury-poetry-pot-haiku-poems/
http://www.payhembury.org.uk/payhembury-poetry-pot-acrostic-poems/