On this day
you are one and the same that poet
who won’t change his life
and thinks he can change another’s
who grinds away at the trunk of a massive oak
with his puny insinuating saw.
Then this is the great passive monster of compassion
one and the same
who gives oxygen and safe perch and respite from brutal light
who caresses your fragile being back to the sanctity of great height
and cools you
who you are
sleeping there in the forest
among a verdant crown of soft wands nested
that flutter against your face.
On that day the oak will at last give you its life
and fall over flat
to fling you away.
Then this is the day when you unbecome a poet
and are consumed by dumb work
and fashion your ludicrous poems scratched on paper
back into that one and the same and only and original
massive burgeoning expansive growing bursting lush and vastly alive
Tree
Poem by Henry Stanton.
Henry Stanton’s fiction, poetry and paintings have appeared in 2River, The A3 Review, Alien Buddha Press, Avatar, Analog Submission Press, The Baltimore City Paper, The Baltimore Sun Magazine, Black Petal Press, Cathexis Northwest Press, Chicago Record, Death of The Workers Press, Down in The Dirt, Gnashing Teeth Publishing, High Shelf Press, Holy & Intoxicated Press, Ink Pantry Press, Kestrel, North of Oxford, Outlaw Poetry, Paper & Ink Zine, The Paragon Press, PCC Inscape, Pindeldybox, Ramingo!, Rust Belt Press, Rusty Truck, Salt & Syntax, Smokelong Quarterly, Under The Bleachers, The William & Mary Review, Word Riot, The Write Launch and Yellow Mama, among other publications. His book of poems “The Man Who Turned Stuff Off” was published by Holy & Intoxicated Press in 2019 and his book of poems and drawings “Pain Rubble” was published by Holy & Intoxicated Press in 2020. “Moonbird”, a book of poems was published by Cathexis Northwest Press in 2021. His poetry was selected for the A3 Review Poetry Prize and was shortlisted for the Eyewear 9th Fortnight Prize for Poetry. His fiction received an Honorable Mention acceptance for the Salt & Syntax Fiction Contest and was selected as a finalist for the Pen 2 Paper Annual Writing Contest A selection of Henry Stanton’s paintings and published fiction and poetry can be viewed at the following website www.brightportfal.com. Henry Stanton is Publisher of Uncollected Press and the Founding & Managing Editor of The Raw Art Review – www.therawartreview.com