AFTER SCHOOL
I perch in the front-yard maple,
back wedged against
solid trunk, legs
dangle.
A curtain of green colors my view.
Sure-footed ants parade
on invisible skyways.
Squirrels bound
from branch
to branch,
leaping from tree’s
skinny fingers,
without fear to hold them back.
I sit in my tree for
minutes or hours
imagining a day of leaping
and landing,
scolding and chattering,
owning the treetop.
© 2016 Buffy Silverman. All rights reserved.
Ann Rider has challenged us to write poems about places of refuge and solace this month. Click HERE for more details.
You have until this Wednesday, November 30th, to join in! Post your poem on our November 2016 padlet and I will add it to the wrap-up celebration HERE. One lucky participant will win a copy of BEFORE MORNING by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beth Krommes, courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers.
A lovely way to begin my week....the thought of being in the leaves. Wonderful. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! Mine was an oak. It's now so tall I can't reach the lowest branches.
ReplyDeleteI never was much of a tree climber. I wonder, is it too late to start? Thanks for expanding my world, Buffy.
ReplyDeleteNever too late, Michelle.
DeleteI visited the tree I "owned" last summer when visiting the little town where I grew up. It's way too tall for climbing now, but gave me those hours you've so beautifully described, Buffy. I love your poem!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite pastime in verse! Thanks for sharing Buffy
ReplyDeleteSome of my fondest memories are hanging out in trees! (And one memory of falling out and then my sister falling on my foot and breaking it--haha). Beautiful piece Buffy!
ReplyDeleteI used to love tree climbing, and I could watch those busy, comic squirrels all day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the nice comments--it's not surprising that many of us spent our younger days climbing trees!
ReplyDeleteSo much fun. Thanks for such a cute poem.
ReplyDeleteSuch a fan of Buffy's poetry! *happy sigh*
ReplyDeleteBeautiful I always love cling and playing under trees when I was younger now I love to walk and sit bent them and captures them in pic
ReplyDeletecliming
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