She stands among the barren clan
still clothed,
and yet she shivers.
With every wisp of winter wind
she quivers,
and whispers
dry and golden secrets
from her rooted soul:
of birds that fledged,
or insect galls
that mauled
her woody memory.
As her spicy sap flows
she furls
the green of Spring
in little whorls
to welcome slanted light
and longer days.
A slender thing,
with limbs askance
no child will climb up;
no treehouse hammered
to her skin,
no rope swing
or other thing,
like Oaks endure.
But she in all her tenderness
is at the once
both tensile
and sure.
-Patricia Thrushart
Patricia Thrushart has published two books, Little Girl Against The Wall, and Yin and Yang. Her work appears regularly in The Watershed Journal, a regional literary magazine of Northwestern Pennsylvania, and on the websites Dark Horse Appalachia and North/South Appalachia. Her poems have been published in Tiny Seed, The Brookville Mirror, Clarion University’s Tobeco, The Avocet, Still Point Arts Quarterly, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, The Indiana Gazette, Feminine Collective, Curating Alexandria and The Pennsylvania Poetry Society’s Magazine PENNESSENCE. In June 2019, she won first place in the National Federation of State Poetry Society’s Diamond T contest. She is an active member of the local writers’ community, presenting workshop sessions and participating in live poetry readings.
Thank for posting my poem!
On Wed, Nov 27, 2019 at 8:36 AM TINY SEED LITERARY JOURNAL wrote:
> Tiny Seed Journal posted: “She stands among the barren clan still clothed, > and yet she shivers. With every wisp of winter wind she quivers, and > whispers dry and golden secrets from her rooted soul: of birds that > fledged, or insect galls that mauled her woody memory. As ” >