gold, turquoise, and purple splash sky
as another day fades away
two aging trees stand silent guard
over all their shared yesterdays
as another day fades away
gossamer memories flutter
settle upon dark canopies—
fairy dust coating weary leaves
two aging trees stand silent guard
sifting through every speck of dust...
and hold close all that are happy
discard the ones that bring on tears
over all their shared yesterdays
now stands one tree where once was two
but beneath the dark dismal dirt
tangled roots desperately cling
©2026 Kate McCormick
This Retourne poem was written for the poetry challenge : MTB: Returning to Fours post at dVerse~Poets Pub. As often happens, I used one of my paintings for inspiration.
Love those roots… maybe saplings will grow from the lost tree
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Some lovely and varied mark making on your painting, Kate.
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Kate, another beautiful metaphor for loss and loneliness, perfectly matched and breathtaking, stunning painting… Kudos 👏 …; -)
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Thank you, Liam. The painting is one of my favorites. I no longer have it in my possession. A childhood friend of my late husband liked it so well, I gifted it to him. It now resides in Sierra Vista, Arizona.
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I appreciate the above and below ground realities. There is much that remains that others cannot see.
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an ekphrastic of your own painting wrapped in a Retourne – it does not get much better than this. Very touching with the personification and the loss of one
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Thank you. I’m still processing that loss, and poetry is an outlet for my emotions. 💙
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as Shakespeare wrote: “Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o-er wrought heart and bids it break.”
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This was truly beautiful, a poetic breeze between the two aging trees.
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Thank you so much, Ain. 🙂
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