Ode to Oak and Acorn

Based on Keatsian Ode structure ABABCDECDE x3 Stanzas

An emerald jewel set in its cap

Beneath a  vast breeze ruffled canopy

Capsule of life in a genetic scrap

A script for a natural symphony

Fed by sun and rain, mother tree nurtures

Adornments of arboreal beauty

A prize for grateful flower and fauna

The grain to grow all our greener futures

Time after time a wonderous bounty

Creator of havens, cool shaded corners

 

Plucked and buried by avian farmers

Long Winter's stores come into existence

Squirreled away in Autumnal larders

Harvest for all, not only subsistence

All browned by the sun, a leathery cloak

Wind weathered leaves, a gold edged tapestry

Lines carved by time the creator stands firm

Fruit falls all around the broad English Oak

Layer on layer bound by ancestry

Each generation fulfils its own term

 

In Spring green fingers reach for the heavens

All pushing their way past late season frost

Close to the mother, surviving ravens

Feeding the farmer, a trifling cost

Pushing for light as the cycle begins

Beating off brambles and fighting off ferns

New life in the forest starts to be told

Stretching to each side creating new limbs

In wood, copse and dell a new making learns

The wonder of oaks and acorns unfolds

Author's Note

First pass and first attempt at an ode - next few passes are for Iambic Pentameter

Reviews

[Zoe Richardson]

"capsule of life within a scrap..." I love that phrase! This is a very eloquent ode, something I've not attempted yet. I tend to confine my poetry to what feels natural and for some reason odes won't slot into that category! I enjoyed and am envious of this!