A Poem For Today - Seer

[KEN DICKINSON]

Seer 

 

I catch sight of a figure

in a fissure within the body

of an old oak,

praying, hands together, 

a smile upon its face.

 

Revealed by the crumbling, broken

wood, it gazes into a vast distance

as if reading its ways, branches 

yet to leaf, a few of last year’s 

leaves still clinging.

 

The blossoms of a sapling plum

close to the oak’s base shine white.

The figure draws me round again.

 

Come see what I can see.

I live and die within this tree.

Worlds burn, and I’m reborn.

Your worry is so human,

if not wise. It lays a path of caring 

for others to pick up its scent.

 

Under the oaks’ boughs, 

I find contentment. 

The lion hungers. The lion waits. 

The figure falls silent

and will not be coaxed.

 

A careworn face of ancient years

in repose, watching long lines

of honking geese fly in.

- Raphael Block