Heatwave

The Spring was wet,

enough that the trees still look alive above the yellow grass,

their roots searching out hidden wells to keep from losing too many leaves.

In their shade the heat has baked the ground into a bad ceramic,

the glaze already chipped and cracked in this overheated kiln.

Camouflaged by brittle stalks the sacrifices go unnoticed,

dust to dust, ashes to ashes, the trees can only stand so long.

dverselogo

23 Comments

  1. These lines
    “In their shade the heat has baked the ground into a bad ceramic,
    the glaze already chipped and cracked in this overheated kiln.” describe so well the effects on the earth of a drought. The image of the bad cracking ceramic in an overheated kiln is perfect!
    And just a quick question….not sure it you mean to say “trees” or “tress” in that last line….I am reminded of the leafy branches of the trees almost as the earth’s tresses. I like it either way.

    Reply

  2. Again, Lillian was here first to grab my favorite line & image. There is a freshness in your work that is very appealing, effortlessly poetic. One thing for sure–there’s no drought out here on the trail.

    Reply

  3. What a way to start this poem, with a short statement that sets the scene and then describes trees in such glorious detail. I especially enjoyed:
    ‘In their shade the heat has baked the ground into a bad ceramic,
    the glaze already chipped and cracked in this overheated kiln’.

    Reply

  4. Oh, the sacrifice is so well denoted in your verse. We see the green and feel the heat but it is on the ground and within where the struggle for survival goes on. I have seen those cracks
    and believed in them. It’s from “dust to dust and ashes to ashes” that a life reaches its end.
    -HA

    Reply

  5. Wow! Really captures the rain and then the heatwave. The brittleness and use of ceramic really seems to show how hard and dried out the earth is but you describe the trees and their roots so well, searching out deep below for water.

    Reply

  6. Sacrifice often does go unnoticed, when it does get noticed it is suspected of being mere theatre. I have a soft spot for trees. They need good Forresters.

    Reply

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