April 2020
Sylvia Cavanaugh
cavanaughpoet@gmail.com
Author's Note: One of the most celebrated sights is that of a massive lone oak tree in the middle of a farm field. I agree, that those trees are truly moving and inspiring in all seasons. Last summer, I noticed that a lone oak I've long admired seemed to be stressed from heat and lack of rain. I realized that the sight of the lone oak in a farm field, although beautiful, represents a vision of a larger, more troubling picture.
Oak in Afternoon Sun
"Oak in Afternoon Sun" by Jim Lewis, ©2020

Guilty

Old lone tree 
of oak
your foliage thins 
these days
in the breathless
scorch
of amplified sun
 
planted years ago
into the contours
of this field
this monoculture
of greed
 
we humans 
cut down your 
neighboring
kin and now 
hail you
 
forgetting that vast
forests were once
our only god
and first home
 
your branches 
are the dendritic 
complication 
of my excuses
 
I grow restless
in this depleted soil
amid the rustling
paper-dry stalks
of feed corn
©2020 Sylvia Cavanaugh
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