Seeing Oaks
1
Her love of her
mother. Her mother’s gift of language.
We were looking at dead or almost dead trees today, trying to decide
where we could plant trees for my mother and what kind. Mr Carslake offered two yews, but
I don’t really fancy yews. They
were always in church yards.
There’s a very practical reason for that .... to keep the cows away for their own protection. And it was a very useful
wood. Not that they are
really poisonous. I remember
Hanley, was that his name in Ruskington? Hanwell Yes, he ate a few berries just to show
that they weren’t. Because there
were yews at the bottom of the school garden..... Or walnut trees, he said we could have walnuts. I’ve got nothing against walnuts, I
suppose they’re native. But I was
thinking more of oaks, or maybe ash.
Don’t you think, oaks? He
examined the branches of a great
tree in a clearing that looked almost dead, snapping off some twigs. They could clear this away.
2
pine needles
wish bones
these two must
be separated
not in the same
house
skin flurries
wind or the furies
sleep creases
he said that the
two oaks will grow
and if they die
they will be
replaced
and I imagine my
mother
watching them
my eyes her eyes
these gaps of
sunlight
between the
shifting oak leaves
and that is true
of any oak tree
"Seeing Oaks" comes from Somerset Letters, originally published as a book by Oasis Books in 2002, with selections, including this one, later included in Paravane: New and Selected Poems 1996-2003 (Salt, 2004). Presley's last two books were published by Shearsman; to learn more about her and her work and read selections, please see her Shearsman author page here.
