FROM STONY GROUND



This beautiful Holm Oak is a rare example of a fully grown tree, most Holly Oaks in our countryside do not mature into trees and are more commonly found as spiked leaved bushes. This tree grows out of a metre wide dry stone wall, built from stones littering the surrounding land. 


FROM STONY GROUND 

Tree and wall grown in harmony,
stones plucked from arid earth,
balanced in hand raised precision,
protecting roots from snuffling
snouts as sounders of boar wait
for dusk to claim the terraces.


Cragged bark emerges from
ancient rock like spiked crocus
breaking free from spring mulch,
Oak parasol gifting green shade to
worn labourers breaking bread
with dust calloused hands.


Traces of their ancestors etched
in stone laid on lichened stone,
but only Oak remembers if the
wall was built around her trunk
or if an acorn sprouted upwards,
crumbling rock to reach blue sky. 





© 2018 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved. 



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