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| photos by harlon rivers |
The Big Oak Tree on Milk Creek
It was about a mile as a crow flies
through the shoulder high golden grain fields
The ripened seeds rattled in their tawny hulls,
imbuing a flaxen hued chaff,
into the silence of the summer breeze
Cutoff and ragged blue jeans,
cinnamon sun burnished skin
reminded infrequent onlookers of a happy child,
running free as graceful butterfly frolic,
carefree as a whimsical birdsong melody;
gliding with the flow of all things Zen,
an all-encompassing harmony
to simply be alive with lilting sway,
dancing with the cadence
~ the creek bed grove trees ~
From a distance the Mighty Oak
landmarked Sublimity ;
standing 3 centuries sentinel
beheld in the majestic sky blue sky,
quietly listening to the entrusted secrets
an unsung solitary child
The symmetry of its grandeur’s scaffold,
the splendor’s of creations amazing grace,
evolved from the goodness of the rich river valley soil
where Milk Creek meandered lazily
over the sacred roots of her native soul
The farther he ran from the heavy handed
the smaller he felt the sting of their disdain
Fleeing from battered and bound beseech
with a the fragile naive essence of a broken peace
..."you always make me feel like I am falling ...he thought always falling down without a place to land”
... soon forgotten in the moment
astir in escalating wildness
born in the impending climb;
up – up into the outstretched arms
an uncommon comfort
befallen like a fist full of mercy
Earth Mother’s ancient wood
loomed large to mitigate
all the unfamiliar innocence,
he didn’t know yet, he had lost
He sat perched upon
thickly gnarled oak arms
reaching across to another shore,
touching where those meandering
melancholy waters listlessly course
Confessing out loud to the crawdads
swimming backwards,
chased below his reflection
by cubby harvest trout.
China Pheasant crows breaking silence
from his roost in nearby timber stand,
even then he longed to fly away
from the gravity a nest he knew was falling down
The big Oak Tree on Milk Creek
still spans like a bridge to another eroding shore,
the uncleaved pathway
overgrown by passing time,
untrodden forevermore ...
© H. A. Rivers
don't let your soul look the other waywhen your heart speaks beseechingly of the hidden secretsseen in the eyes of a child
Note: italicized lines, a lyric from Brandi Carlile
- Wherever Is Your Heart-
#heartbreak #life #abuse #hurt #neglect #thoughts #autobiographical
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