A Poem a Day (629): NaPoWriMo Day 2 - The great oak

 
NaPoWriMo Day 2 

The prompt: write a platonic love poem. In other words, a poem not about a romantic partner, but some other kind of love – your love for your sister, or a friend, or even your love for a really good Chicago deep dish pizza. The poem should be written directly to the object of your affections (like a letter is written to “you”) and should describe at least three memories of you engaging with that person/thing.

 
The great oak
 
It’s the way you curve,
the power in your strength,
faint accent, chilled space,
your armour like an embrace.
 
A wealth of energy, shaken now
by the rain piercing the sky, and you,
you tip your hands up to catch it all,
let it trickle soundless to the earth.
 
Your roots confound, deliver, ground us all,
snaking. I listen to the sap bubble within,
my face etched by the rough of your bark,
no bite, just this subtle scent of green.
 
There is a sacred freedom in your arms,
these branches curving around me,
a warmth, a silent understanding,
an incoming, this return to nature’s being.
 
Copyright Vickie Johnstone, April 2, 2024