Subsistence

Leaf by leaf it sheds itself bare,
this lanky tree on the roadside,

standing under a harsh sun
on soil gravelly and dry.


Unlike the big lads across the road
it has no air of longevity:

its peeling bark is paper-thin
and its branches mere twigs.


Still it seems to placidly survive,
the scant leaves clinging;

its stick of a trunk stays well upright,
rising above the weeds.


Through long days of heat and dust
and intermittent rain

it somehow manages to keep on sprouting
just enough green.


Standing in the occasional breeze
under a sky never short of light,

leaf by leaf it regrows its crown,
this lanky tree on the roadside.


---


The above is the poem I wrote for and submitted to NLB Read!Fest 2015 Be A Poetry on Platforms Star Poet contest. I got a commemorative EZ-Link card for the participation. :)

While searching for a theme to write on, I remembered Carpark 15, sort of my "comfort reading" that evokes the soothing memory of a pleasant, breezy late-afternoon scenery. I wanted to write something with a similar feel for the contest, hence the "tree" theme and the similar structure.

I'm afraid this piece turned out not as pleasantly evocative as Carpark 15... Then again, I suspect the pleasant imagery I associated with Carpark 15 is really just my personal nostalgia and not much what the words do. Ah well. ^_^;