Elegy To A Tree Poem by Reva Kern

The sweeping Sycamore
Stately, grand, elegant
Its branches spread wide
Like an umbrella
Covering over 100 feet -
Its leaves the width of a man's hand
Providing a safe haven for
Red-tailed Hawks
And Barn Owls
So majestic as seen through
My kitchen window -

Then the unexpected
The unforeseen
The unimagined occurred
In the month of April -
Once upon a time
It was a beautiful month
Of cool temperatures
And light Spring rain -
This year it turned
Into a furnace of heat
Bringing vicious, devastating winds
Stripping that beautiful tree of
Its splendid leaves -
What few remained were
Left brown, beaten
And bedraggled
Looking like the Fall

I can see myself in that tree
Now in the twilight of my years
Stripped of my youth
My vigor
The difference being only
What was an unexpected
Assault on the tree
Can't be said of me.