The Apricot Tree
Will it live, you ask,
the old apricot tree?
Half of it died three years ago,
the other half is blooming.
Will it live, I ask,
the geriatric heart?
Half of it died six years ago,
the other half is blooming.
Old sorrows, borers in the wood;
dead wood needs a sharp saw.
March 2011
Posted for Friday Flash Fiction 55 at the G-Man's
Photo by joy ann jones 3/9/11
I just LOVE nature metaphors!
ReplyDeleteLoved your 55 JA.
You My Friend are NEVER too late to the party!
Thank you for taking the time to help make Fridays the funnest day of blogging!
Thanks again for playing, and have a Kick Ass Week-End...G
CHECKMATE!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletecut is away so the living can keep going...smiles. then i do think it will live...nice to see you hedge
ReplyDeleteI'm rooting for survival for this lovely apricot tree...
ReplyDeleteYes. Truly great metaphor. I love nature/life metaphors.
ReplyDeleteSaw the dead wood and discard the sorrow and hopefully man and tree will live another six and three, respectively. Also, fitting how it's the poet who is the one to inquiry into the human issue. Excellent 55!
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how strong trees are and how life is still pulsating in the portions not spoiled by disease or decay.
ReplyDeleteLoved this 55, hedgewitch.
Only you would come up with this. I LOVE that last line, so terse, so loaded. And you set it up so gracefully. For some reason, I love the difference in the number of years, three and six. "The other half is blooming." You're a fucking genius.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the metaphorical element that you wove into this 55. half dead half alive - poor heart I mean tree
ReplyDeletemoonie smiles
let it be,
ReplyDeleteat times, when things get subjective, it is hard to tell the truth.
very sharp observation of life,
nature is mysterious and make us think.
divine 55.
Good piece, all-around. Effective stuff.
ReplyDeleteThis is so powerful, I actually pulled in my aging limbs for fear of the saw!! hee hee! I love the half heart that is blooming and the "old sorrows, borers in the wood"...such wonderful writing!
ReplyDeleteI like this! And, I like apricot trees.
ReplyDeleteGreat analogy, apricot and heart...clinging on to life, clinging on to purpose....bery nice...bkm
ReplyDeleteWhat a perfect analogy!! Sometimes, all the dead and decaying matter within takes a lot more to clean up...
ReplyDeleteVery beautifully written, Joy!!
A beautifully balanced metaphor, this, declared and then completed. This poem really does the job, hw.
ReplyDelete