On Headley Heath

I seem to have been writing a bit about trees lately. I've always loved them, a life form that does not need to think in order to be. The following poem is about two literal trees close to the car park and trailer cafe on Headley Heath. In a poem they are of course metaphorical too, and as reader you can choose which meanings work for you - relationship, endurance, strength through togetherness, faithfulness as a fruitful, not a negative thing. How might a Bible metaphor from Isaiah 61 - "oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord" - resonate with you?

 

Two trunks rise into a single canopy

A whole summer of sun has

Soaked their leaves in gold

Which now flames down to earth

Autumnally, fire for the dark

Where, millionfold, their roots

Kiss and commingle and empower

Next Spring’s upsurging.

How many storms have battered their embraces?

How many droughts sucked at their life?

How many seasons rippled into rings?

How many generations of acorns did they seed

As they stand whispering together, letting

The hasty trippers hurry rootless by?