"The Longing Tree" by Aparna Sanyal

The Longing Tree

Aparna Sanyal 

Trees can be life. 

But 

on your horns 

impaled, 

shedding leaves like tears 

sing sonnets of 

my careworn love. 

They carry the weight from 

the going-light

of my dimming eyes. 

Speckled along this peeling bark, 

I write 

my memories, 

so that perhaps, when you look, 

you will see me

there too. 

And when you leave this 

steepled awning of 

emerald, rust and umber, 

the stark ravens of longing that 

reside in these branches 

peck at my being, carry away 

torn bits of my soul, 

to bring 

to your side. 

Poet’s Notes:  This poem was written in response to a picture prompt—a traditional Indian Warli painting of a tree with a deer standing at its base. The leaves from the tree were shedding onto the deer’s antlers, and on the tree’s branches; birds sat looking down at the scene, a complete ecosystem in a single frame, soul-stirring in its simplicity. 

Editor's Note:  I heard Daphne, post-metamorphosis, speaking to Apollo here https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/myths/apollo-and-daphne/.