The tree in the field



                      THE TREE IN THE FIELD.

               I ventured across the lifeless. bleached
               skeleton of a tree.
               It's limbs were silent, weathered, worn, I could
                  see.
               No sign of any green leaves, the tree was
               clothed bare,
               but a hollow in it's trunk, revealed a gnarled  ,
                  twisted stare.

               It's branches stretched out, it towered high
               above.
               I could see nothing liked it, it had gone without
              love.
               I walked around it, trying hard to think,
               when suddenly I thought, I saw one of its eyes,
             blink!

                A mouth in the bark, moved, shaped in a
                growl,
               then suddenly it let out an angry, loud howl!
            "   NOOOOOOOOO " - it said, it's eyes opened
              and shut.
               "DON'T CHOP ME DOWN, I DON'T WANT TO
              BE CUT!"

              The tree began to shuffle,stumble as if in heavy
            boots,
              then it wrenched itself free ,of all of it's roots!
              It waved its branches frantically, like writhing
             snakes,
              I grabbed for my camera, lots of photos , to
             take!

             As I grabbed my camera, a knotted branch
            curled around me,
              I managed  to snap pictures, of the angry,
                waving tree!
             It pulled and pulled me and  I fell to the ground.
             The wind started whistling, the tree made an
              eerie sound!

             "COME"! , it said, but  before I could break
             loose,
            one of it's creepers crept round my neck, like a
            noose!
             Tighter and tighter, it began to grip, I fell to the
           earth,
             where it had stood  unnoticed, from it's
            seedling birth.

           I felt the mud and grass beneath me,  begin to
            seep,
           my body felt tired, I began to need sleep...
           The tree moved back to it's place and stood rock
            still.
           There it lived alone, happier,  quiet until...

          One day a farmer discovered my camera beneath
          the soil,
          when he was doing the ploughing - his daily toil.
         Eventually, he saw  the memory- card slides,
          Disbelief and surprise, he could not hide!

          He searched and searched for a body, around the
            tree,
           but I had joined it as it's new spirit, it needed to
           "use" me.
           
             

About this poem

I wrote this poem, when I came across an Elm tree, ravaged by Dutch Elm disease . I thought of a story that would feature and best describe the character, of the tree.

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Submitted by ljsanders on September 20, 2022

Modified on April 26, 2023

2:06 min read
69

Quick analysis:

Scheme X XAXAXBXB XCXCDXD EFFXGHG AIIXXHJ XAAAKXK JLELEMXM HNNXOO XPPXX EAHA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 2,696
Words 412
Stanzas 10
Stanza Lengths 1, 8, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8, 6, 5, 4

Laura Sanders

I live in Dorset in the U.K.I am inspired by nature and the countryside, especially the seasons, and the weather.I write about all sorts of topics and my poems are usually rhyming, haiku or free verse. more…

All Laura Sanders poems | Laura Sanders Books

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1 Comment
  • Soulwriter
    You're very talented. I love this personification!
    LikeReply4 months ago

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"The tree in the field" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/140316/the-tree-in-the-field>.

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