To a River Tree
A poem by Patrick Deeley

To a River Tree

Each morning I stop on my long-winded walk,
arm’s-length friendship, talk that isn’t talk,

bridging the gap between us. Whether the river
is wild or tranquil, I know you’ll be here,

who have spent years slipping the shelf
of an eroding boulder, slowly losing yourself.

Your words? Pale green, brown, bare-broomed,
and, with Spring again, white-bloomed.

My words? A glance, an open-handed gesture,
a smile when I catch sight of a kingfisher

igniting your branches, or a waterhen
darting undercover. And I find I am clear then

of doomster notions positing the future
as being all of mayhem, everything of murder.

About the Author:

Patrick Deeley is a poet, memoirist and children’s author from Loughrea, County Galway. He has received many awards for his writing including The 2019 Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Poetry Award. Seven collections of his poems have been published by Dedalus Press, most recently ‘Groundswell: New and Selected’, and ‘The End of the World’.

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