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    Parker Owens
  • Parker Owens
  • Author
  • 06/19/2020
  • 171 Words
  • 1,331 Views
  • 9 Comments
Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Disasters, Delights and Other Detours - 71. Along the Creek

Another of my experiments in variable meter and pattern. Any errors you find are mine alone.

Along the Creek

 

The cottonwoods are falling one by one

no longer standing tall beneath the sun

but prostrate do they lie

and never will the west wind make them sway

that now the forest litter and decay

no more to touch the sky.

 

So few among their number still remain

with arms outstretched to catch the falling rain,

the lonely waters weep;

their sorrow spreading swiftly ‘cross the glen,

a dark reflecting pool beyond our ken,

in which spring’s secrets keep.

 

And now break out the songs of axe and saw

triumphant, as on much-ringed bones they gnaw

their years to chip and dust;

o’er lea and field they play their requiem,

but falling silent, none remember them,

as one day they will rust.

 

To swale and stream our wan’dring steps return

where carcass trees lie prostrate in the fern

a miracle behold;

for from an ancient trunk there in its grave

spring up a dozen scions green and brave

as youth renews the old.


If you, a weary traveler in this poetic land, choose to leave a comment or a thought, I will be very grateful.
Copyright © 2017 Parker Owens; All Rights Reserved.
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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Parker Owens
4 hours ago, Mikiesboy said:

i was very tired when i read last night, so it was not working for me. But i came back today feeling brighter ...

I enjoyed this very much. I think it is a poem you have to allow to settle in you .. let your brain paint the words so you can more easily see the wonder and beauty here.  :) i truly enjoy what i see

I really liked what you said about needing to let this poem settle. It’s amazing now - the old tree is giving birth to dozens of new shoots, it’s like a cottonwood hedge. Wandering along the creek never ceases to bring new sights to wonder at. Thanks for trying out this experiment with me. 

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Parker Owens
13 hours ago, Headstall said:

Great experiment, Parker. I liked it. I had to read it a second time to get the rhyming scheme in my head, and after that it flowed. A beautiful ode to the tenacity of nature. :) 

It does seem to need repeated readings to get fully lodged in the brain, I agree. As a teacher, I want to be like that tree - something many new trees spring from. Thanks for reading this.

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Parker Owens
2 hours ago, dughlas said:

I find this style to be truly lovely. There is an ebb and flow to the words much suited to the topic, the ebb and flow of nature's persistence ... 

Thank you your words are like dappled sunlight and the melody of water flowing in a shaded brook.

You are immensely kind. You have captured  the path along the creek perfectly in your comment. Like you, I find the ebb and flow of this form allows adaptation to the topic. Thanks so much for reading!

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