The Swamp Oak

Balding leafage
lets the eye slip through
to scabrous bark
that runs past rot holes
hiding squirrels.

Twisted branches
contort around power lines,
reaching upward
and straining to
recover grace.

The tree sways
toward a century
it will not reach,
and strews its seeds
with wanton hope.

 

 

About the Poet:
Ed Ahern resumed writing after forty odd years in foreign intelligence and international sales. He’s had something over a hundred thirty poems and stories published so far, and two books.

 

 

Photo by Hannah Louise.

 

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