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Addressing the Bloody Leaves, This Evening by Claire Ochieng

our tree,

dear old tree,

has become older than she can carry.

her age…

grown heavy with trauma;

children cried,

contemplated soul negotiations;

mature children grew stoic, lost in themselves… for the tree

had no space for hearts of that size.

our dear old tree is waving her white flag,

this evening.

she is breathing deeper breaths

shallower, too…

she is thanking us and excusing herself.

our dear old tree is asking for forgiveness;

this evening, she asks for us to remove

those blood-stained leaves

from her leaf galaxy.

This evening, she is asking for us to excuse her; to not chop—

“remember, as long as you can.”

Author Bio

Claire Ochieng is a senior sociology major studying at Spelman College, in Atlanta, Georgia. Claire is originally from Kensington, Maryland, by way of Gambia (maternally) and Kenya (paternally). In addition to her undergraduate studies, Claire is a tarot reader, business owner, YouTuber, and freelance writer. Additional poetry can be found on her Instagram account, @cl4iredelalune.

Tags

#Nature #Change #Aging

Image Credit

Spragg, Bernard. “Fall foliage.” Creative Commons, 14 Apr. 2014, https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/1782fdc7-48ee-453b-b6fd-84a10bd36880