The Tree Man (with video poem)
It’s early Summer
Dad is out the back again
Gardening in between cricket from the Ashes
If it’s not football, it’s the cricket
He’s digging a hole to plant a bush
Not digging where squirrels stash their Winter food
It’s now mid Winter
Dad is out the back again
Squirrels feast on nuts and berries
He’s digging a hole to bury ashes
They say we are created from nothing
Dust to dust
and that we go back to nothing
Ashes are not nothing
Dead things in this living world are never really dead
Ashes grow inside those the deceased leave behind
Mum planted her ashes inside me
Seeds that grow until they become tree
Trunk in my belly
Roots in my legs
It’s late Spring
Dad is out the back again
Tiny branches with leaves poke out through my ears
A small bird has made its nest on one
Its unborn chicks are ready to hatch
Dad would plant me in the garden
if I didn’t look so peculiar
I am mobile tree
carrying Mum wherever I go
David RL Moore
Sun 17th Mar 2024 10:44
Just popping back in to compliment the reading of your poem. I rarely revisit to comment other than to prattle on about something triggered by what was written.
In this case I simply want to compliment you for creating some genuine poetic noises and imagery, refreshing.
David
PS. I find it amusing that the repetition of the word "Digging" put me in mind of Seamus Heaneys' poem of the same name. Ironically another poem about a Patriach.