In The Mist

Challenge by the Poetry and Lyrical Group

Wandering through a forest
of naked tress,
not unlike the dawn
of time and creation,
lost in my way
searching for a guide.

What presented itself
through the mists
was not at all what
I had expected.
The mist parted to
reveal the largest
oak tree I had
ever seen.

It's boughs seemed to
stretch wide enough
to cover the world in
a strong embrace.
The top branches
kissed the grey sky
with the gentleness
of a lover.

The tree finally spoke,
not in words that one
could hear and not
with lips one could see.
But in a way it did speak.
I was filled with emotions,
sensations of loss, of pain.
Feelings of sadness and sorrow.

My vision was filled by
the mist, which seemed to
be under a different power.
I reached my hand to
feel something tangible.
The oak's rough bark made
contact with my skin.
The emotions became stronger,
the mist pulsed and became
it's own life force.

The mist started to show me
what the tree had tried to.
Pain of watching loved ones die.
The sorrow of never
seeing them again.
Sadness for not being
 able to stop it
not able to prevent it
from happening.

The giant oak tree had
seen the forest around it
shrink and become a park.
The oak tree was the
last of his kind.
He'd seen too much and
felt more then his share.

He showed me the world
as it used to be,
as it should always have been.
Now there were people
and dirt with debri
cast haphazard throughout
the planted Earth.

He showed me how the
big blue orb had become
a big grey ball that
even I didn't want to
gaze upon for long.
I did try to look away
but the mist turned
my face back to the vision.

"What have we done?" I whispered.
"What have we destroyed?"
The mist moved and showed
me bright coloured flowers
of every kind, for every season.
A small well of hope seemed
to bloom within my mind and heart.

Without actual words
the giant oak was telling me
there was only one way to
repair the damage that had
been done to Planet Earth,
to my home, everyone's home.
Only one shot to make it work.

To go back, to reverse the things
we as a species had done.
There have been far too many
spills, too much junk.
There has been too much
waste for the Earth
to clean on it's own.

The mist opened once more
showing me fully the Oak.
For the first time, I heard
him speak to me in a
tone smooth and somber,
rich with depth and age.

"Your burden now is truth.
You must set things right once
more and restore the balance.
Many will scorn you
Many will loathe you,
but you must carry on where
I have failed and grown old."

My eyes filled with tears
my heart, with pain and sorrow.
Now I understood what
the Oak was telling me.
I must make a difference as
a human being and reshape
the planet into what it
should have been from
the very beginning.
If I failed, if I couldn't
make it work and help reset
the balance as a human being,
I would have to do it slowly,
as a Tree.

N.Strong

Reviews

[r]

lots of imagery nice job

[Desert Dreamer]

This poem brought tears to my eyes. Terrific poem. The tree ancient tree spirit speaks to you, this is powerful. Thank you for sharing. I look forward to reading your other work.