(This poem was inspired by a conversation I had with my dear dear Antonio after the tragic loss of his daughter Tasya, 15. ) 

“Subtle Cries of a Hollow Tree”

“You wanna know how I really feel sometimes? He asks.

You know a shriveled tree… but the bark still stands?

At one point, I felt like that tree… all dried up; but now I feel hollow.”

Her memory takes her to a long stretch of Texas highway in which such a tree stands.

A tree that has stood there for many years since her childhood….and has yet to see any signs of life.

Yet to her, this tree is stunning!  She wants to photograph it; yet she has respected its splendor.

To her, this tree signifies strength and courage, and the ability to majestically stand despite the weariness that the years of solitude have wreaked on it.

To her, its roots underneath the dry earth burrow for miles upon miles. 

To her, this tree is God’s masterful creation…refusing to just perish.

To her, this tree will one day be alive and lush with green leaves…and shade for all to sit under.

To her, this tree is a divine conception that one day will bloom again!

Yes, this hollow-tree-feeling my dear friend will too wither.

Only you can spring alive again.  Only you can receive your angels’ breath of life.

Only you can help that tree from going under.

Only YOU!

maida isabel

8/25/2019