The Oak Tree - Lynette G. Esposito

The Oak Tree

hears the music of the wind
a voice sometimes soprano,
sometimes bass
singing as if no tomorrow
will come.

The old tree listens with
its ancient sense of things
drops acorns full of hope,
dips and lifts its leaves.
dancing.
Twigs fly, beat rhythm.

The tempo allegros,
Oak and wind,
one waltzes, wraps
invisible arms
around its stoic partner.
Music plays
accompanied by a choir of birds
with an orchestra of strings
and wooden clarinets.

The cold wind tires
the Old tree,
undresses it
with wild howls that change the song.

The ancient tree,
has its sense of things,
hears the distant piccolo
high pitched but clear.
Tomorrow will bring spring.

Originally published by Poetry Quarterly 2020

Lynette G. Esposito, MA Rutgers, has been published in Poetry Quarterly, Front Porch, North of Oxford, Poetry, Deep Overstock, Readers Digest, Lit Shark, and others.  She lives in Southern, NJ and was married to Attilio Esposito.