EnduranceA Poem by Chris Shaw
Within Lynch Island's tangled tracks,
I stand before an English oak whose girth exceeds all others seen. Grey furrowed bark is tough on touch as parasitic ivy clings to vines that climb to giddy heights. I circumvent a sturdy base and with extended arms I reach to measure round a wayward waist. Five times I stretch with fingertips beneath its overhanging boughs. Five times the width of my embrace. In days ahead with tree in leaf, a canopy of heavy shade will block each ray of lucent light, and dark the pathways will become that lead to where in May each year, white bells of Loddon lilies bloom. How many Kings and Queens have ruled? How many tyrants thrived and died? How many battles lost and won? Yet undisturbed this tree stands strong that's overseen the misery of England's bloodied history. If trees were able to convey, if they could whisper words to us, what secrets would they dare to tell? That life prolonged on planet earth is barely stirred by Heaven's grace, far greater stoked by flames from Hell.
© 2018 Chris ShawFeatured Review
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31 Reviews Added on April 30, 2018 Last Updated on April 30, 2018 AuthorChris ShawBerkshire, United KingdomAboutAlbert, my paternal grandfather introduced me to Tennyson when I was nine. I have loved poetry ever since but did not attempt writing a single piece until I was 40. It's never too late to try somethin.. more..Writing
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