Once There Did Exist…
by Odin Roark


In my youth,
there once did exist
this tree now of severed tenacity,
a crumbling faithful image of strength
a steadfast protector always unwavering.

Faraway…

The stone statue of Hercules
of long ago, now stands in decay
made a buffoon by Greek children
enjoying hijinks of youth.

And in my back yard…

There once did live
my fortressed escape,
my stronghold in the sky
of hammered kindling as steps,
giving flight from harsh reality.

This tree that housed so many dreams
rising from Classic Comics and history books,
finds itself but a lightning scared cavity,
remains of my growing up nostalgia
now entombed by wild vines.

Flowers embrace around its severed trunk
reaching up left and right
forgetting not the limbs
that once shaded me and my mythical protector.

How impassioned I become
upon visiting where once I did fantasize
my own kind of escape,
hidden by the branches and leaves
guarded by mythology I wished was real.

Yet…

Yet today in that faraway place…

How prescient this body of stone
its head askew like a court jester pondering me,
seeming able to laugh at himself,
coaxing from me as well
a grin of acceptance.