Two Oaks
I could show you the resting place we all know is there,
where two oaks grow parallel, up and outwards
on either side of a roadside tombstone
of a man who died sleeping,
was born waking, lived without listening
tracing the natural curves of his youthful hopes
up and along to their splitting ends,
until he had the strength and power
to say what he thought and do what he said,
though never avoiding all hypocrisies,
being glad that as he aged thoughts became simpler
and actions more complex, some days
becoming bored by complexity,
some days forgetting there were any complexities at all,
then one day he requested that oaks guide him to his afterlife,
and a patient mourner set two to grow
thinking they would catch the eye of passers-by
who were looking for their expectations to be fulfilled.
First appeared May 5 2014 https://ricochetmag.wordpress.com/2014/05/19/ricochet-magazine-may-edition/