POETRY
I hope you will enjoy a few poems about trees for this month. These are selections from The Reluctant Poet, available at Lulu and most fine ebook retailers.
These Little Trees
These
little trees
Content
to live in pots
Resilient
and nearly waterless
Grow
inch by inch
Bending
to the sun
In
imperceptible ways
Drawing
a line I do not recognize
Until
later I see
The
trunk’s crooked path
Traced
against the sky
Describing my inattentions.
A Particular Sadness
A new gap in the earth
The smell of wet soil, pungent and heavy.
A titan of a tree gave in to the wind
Gave in to the wind
And fell.
We were knee deep
In severed pine, shoulder deep
In lateral, aching branches
Losing purpose
And life.
Soil, unaccustomed to light
Breathed out its breath, gasping for darkness
Evaporating its clammy heart,
Its very heart,
Into air.
Nine birds—refugees now—
Perched in sparse, leafless, neighbor trees
Like Darfurian refugees spread out on the sand,
Spread out on the sand.
They lost their homes.
They lost their homes!
A new space was born.
An empty space was birthed by titan’s absence.
A new space was violently made
At the cost of that tree.
Oh, that beautiful tree!
And I—I gained a particular sadness.
Friend Tree
If I hug you, tree,
When
the storm rolls in
Will the lightning strike
Me
or thee?
If the brunt of the wind
Pushes
back the bark
Will you cherish me
As
your friend?
If the soaking rain
Pools
at feet and trunk
Will we shiver and dance
Together
again?
If the storm-ending comes
And
I then want to leave
Will you stay where you are
As
my friend?
My two volumes of poetry are still available at Poor Richard's, a "Colorado Springs favorite since 1975, where the pizza is warm, the books are wise, and the toy store occasionally giggles". Find my collections The Reluctant Poet and A Prayer from the Driven: Poems by a Christian in the Local Poets section.
ART
As mentioned last month, June is set aside to complete some
new work and get ready to submit those to upcoming shows. It's great to
be at it again. This month I tackled clouds for the first time and feel
great about the progress I am making. I feel more confident in
representing these ever-changing masterpieces of God in His sky. But I
know that I have much more to learn on this front. Each work I do teaches me something new about color, composition, shading, shadows, figures and more.
Don't Miss the MAC!
I have two different pieces at the Manitou Art Center 1st Amendment Show in the Intemann Gallery June-July. I so appreciate this great art center and making space for anyone to show their work.
Click on my Art Banner at the top to see my online gallery of artwork.
Thanks for supporting the arts!
© M.R.Hyde 2026
