Tree of Hope

by Gary Yoder

I’ve heard the sighing of a maple
and it begged of me to stay:
for the fading and the falling
only hurry on the coming
of the shaking and the waking
when the greens go greater greening
and when highest heaven sinking
flings itself forever
here beneath the maple boughs.

Feel for rough and hoping bark break
in the wind and wrinkled ice lake,
feel for fingers frozen in, then take
her fisted hand
and pray.

Gary is a composer, artist, poet, and photographer, pursuing beauty and the healing of his Father’s world through the arts.

Photography by Kenneth Godoy