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Enrooted in Me

Enrooted in Me

A Poem by Dan Cowan
"

I wrote this poem about selfishness and the vile grip it all too often has on me. The ending, although hopeful and seemingly concrete, is not so. Concrete, anyway. I try and fall...but I press on

"
It was just a seed sown in my heart
In that garden where vibrance grew
It sprang from the soil,
as innocent as a thought of you
But soon after, the greenery decayed
Taken by the hands of blight
And the fruits that defined me
became derelict and died
And then passed time,
doling out its seasons
Wherein the sapling, the foreigner,
grew sturdy and seamless
Summer gave way to winter
The snow flurried and piled
And when the garden stopped singing,
That sapling only smiled
When all was white and cold
Paled by frosty moonlight
That sapling became a tree,
reaching for the stars he spied
Then tall became towering
His boughs, hulking and vast
He blotted out the stars
and what little light I had
- - - -
Spring
The snows melt and recede
Frigidity leaves
And the birds return to sing
Resplendent is the season
Tranquil is the air
And all around that monstrous tree,
the soil is dead and bare
His branches are full of emerald leaves,
glistening in the sun and soft rain
He stretches toward the heavens,
bowing to naught but his own name
He seems harmless enough,
just a tree in a spacious meadow
But his bark is black and slimy 
and his shadow consumes the garden below
The earth seems infected,
germinating seeds that bleed
Spilling their scarlet into the dirt
Soggy soil that weeps for me
But I care not for these portents
as I knot a rope to a low branch
And fashion a swing from a tire
To pendulum in the spring's dance
- - - -
Summer
So succulent and sultry
The midnight's, balmy
A sky wide with wonder
And there under the cloudless blue,
a pallor rich in its depth,
my tree stood and waited
for a dawn of grievous red
As the birds chittered and soared above
and the forests filled their vitality,
I bent and inspected the growth of each seed
and was disheartened by their lack of charity
Most had failed to break the surface,
and those that had were sad and sore
The vine of love, the stalk of patience-
rapidly decaying to a vacant mourn
The dirt felt sick, polluted
Offering up a rancid stench
I held a fistful to the wind
and it burned within my clench
It ate at my flesh like leprosy,
like a clutch of writhing wasps,
leaving my palm red and blistered
and my garden devoid of crops
Without plants to attend,
I reclined in my swing
And pendulumed beneath the tree,
same as I had in the spring
- - - -
Autumn
Cooling winds and coloring leaves
Reds and yellows and pinks paint these
A beauty somehow solemn
Now embraced by a pleasant wind,
its fingers combing my beard,
I gaze upon the trunk of the tree
and feel a disturbance drawing near
A rustle, perhaps it was,
that of a slithering serpent,
but a sound touched my ears
of something vile and vermin
I sniffed at the air
and wondered eyes across the meadow,
but no form swelled from the trees,
no beast to loom in the moonglow
Nothing, save the tree,
looming high above me
His branches screening the sky
and seeming to blacken all that was lovely
In the arms of autumnal breeze, 
beneath a sky shaded with twilight,
that rustling draws ever nearer,
bringing my hackles to rise
There is something in the gloom,
something beyond my sight,
approaching with a furtive creep
as the wind about me sighs
I know I should flee, 
but nature begs me to stay
To watch the villain coalesce
from the shadows that silently lay
And while I'm bound to indecision,
rough fingers grasp my ankles
Fearsome and inexorable,
they leave my escape in shambles
I cast downward my eyes,
stretched wide in terror,
to behold a gnarled root
now twining up my femur
And all around me
they burst from the soil
Roots like worms,
they crawl and coil
I scream into the breeze,
the note strangled by the calm
Dense and unnatural
is this night of sickened psalm
And as if his roots weren't enough-
their horror, too small-
he harried me further
by adding glare to his gall
A pair of eyes unfolded in the bark,
their abhorrence running deep
I could not rip away my stare
from the poison that passed to me
The rustling then raised its voice,
cacophonous in the dark,
as his animated roots
enmeshed the meadow in bark
It was then, alone in the gloom,
as reaching roots encoiled by throat,
that an axe of white flame
filled my hand with hope
'By My Strength' was etched on the blade
A head, broad and edged with razor
Aggressive in its purpose-
hungry is the cleaver
With resolve, I grasp its shaft
Now I'm engulfed in white fire
'By My Strength' is the message given,
and by His strength will I conquer
Raising my voice to a shout in moonglow,
I let loose a fury of holy endeavor
Hacking at the roots that strangle
Empowered by my God, I can swing forever
I fear no weariness or discouraging word,
for there is nothing that can slay His will
I will swing and sever until that final breath,
toppling the beast that pollutes me with filth
White flames scald the black of night,
a deflagration from the Fire within
Hacking through these selfish roots,
I hear a strident voice against the wind
It's the tree, importuning mercy,
but I am obliged to give it none
I will watch it fall with stony eyes,
backlit by a dawning sun
And there it will lay,
in its thunderous grave
Rotting through the seasons,
consumed by decay
The axe that I strive to be,
it's words I ardently keep,
has dismantled this selfishness
enrooted in me

© 2018 Dan Cowan


Author's Note

Dan Cowan
thank you so much for sticking through its longevity! I sincerely hope that you all have enjoyed the ride

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Reviews

This is really good, you had it all in there, which is wonderful and creative.

Posted 6 Years Ago


Dan Cowan

6 Years Ago

thanks! I appreciate you sticking it through until the end

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Added on January 17, 2018
Last Updated on January 17, 2018

Author

Dan Cowan
Dan Cowan

New Castle, PA



About
I’m a simple guy. I work in landscaping/snow plowing. I love Jesus, writing, Japanese anime, metalcore, deathcore, and beards. I have recently published my first book— River Stone Tales pa.. more..

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