Tanita gifted us this lovely photograph as source material for our ekphrastic poems this month. (Crediting the Creative Commons…)
I played around with complicated forms and longer narratives but in the end I settled on this response, both short and simple. Enjoy it, and then go and read the others…
The Persistence of Trees
When a girl can’t reach
what she wants or needs
she grows up into herself,
the way a tree might stretch
deep from its taproot
into the generous cup of sky
in order to get the necessary
light, the light necessary
for it to flourish, to transpire,
to eventually cast
its own shadow.
Holy Moly. I LOVE LOVE this. A girl power poem with real strength, but room for patience, and growth, too.
Also: “the generous cup of the sky”—-I’m going to drink that now every time I go outside!
This is beautiful! Strength exudes from your words.
This poem is a beautiful gift to your daughters (and all the girls of the world)!
Oh, gosh. Lovely–and something about it reminds me of Naomi Shihab Nye. The cup/bucket thing, maybe. Anyway, this feels so steadfast and strong and reassuring. Thank you for this!
Oof. Like the kind of punch in the gut you crave: wake up!
“in order to get the necessary
light, the light necessary
for it to flourish”
and all the brightness of the image concentrated in her shadow falling farther and wider. Thank you, Liz.