Old poems

I haven't had the time or inclination to write something new here lately, and when I found myself interested in reading a little poetry today, I ended up rediscovering a couple of my old poems that I'd written long ago, both of them inspired by trees serving as metaphors. I thought I'd share them here, and hope you enjoy them.

Standing in the Stillness

I stand among the trees
As one of them,
Imitating their stillness,
Longing to stretch upward
As they do.
Each trunk a naked form;
Twisted, gnarled, aged,
Vulnerable to axe or blade,
And yet oblivious;
Only stretching upward -
Heavenward -
Each day a little nearer.
And at their tops,
What regal clothes they wear!
Adorned in garments of green
Given from the sun above,
They gently wave their branches
In silent wonder
Of the sky which is their source.
There is simplicity here.
The gentle breeze whispers of it,
And this garden of wood
Embodies it.
It is to fix our gaze upward,
Whatever leaves may fall,
That we might find
Our Source
Of stillness
In the Son.

Our Lady of the Prairies Abbey, Holland, Manitoba

August 19, 1994

The Hope of Spring

Arms laid low

Across a frozen earth,

A dead, decaying trunk

Clings to lifeless leaves,

Desperate for the root

That gives them green.

There is no beauty

In its sagging garb,

And no springtime hopes

Of shriveled leaves becoming new.

Arms spread high,
Naked before God,
An old and noble oak
Has shed its garb
In autumn’s cold, persistent winds.
Its outstretched limbs
Have released their crown of leaves.
But in the wilderness of winter,
The life that flows within its grain
Provides the hope of spring.

Sturgis, Michigan
December 1, 2000


© 2009 by Ken Peters