A Forgotten Sentry

Deep emerald maple leaves blossom on my neighbor’s tree. The trunk—in shadow—looks almost black. It casts little shade over the aging, clubhouse-swing set that my neighbor worked so hard to erect.

The one no one has played on in so long.

empty backyard
leaves flutter in a passing
summer breeze

Photo by Yonan Farah

first published in Image Curve, January 24, 2019

for dVerse Poets OpenLinkNight #236 (pubtended by Grace)

With Real Toads’ Tuesday Platform (imagined by Anmol (HA))

Comments

11 responses to “A Forgotten Sentry”

robertawrites235681907

January 24, 2019

Very nice, Frank.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply
msjadeli

January 25, 2019

It tells a story but there is a sense of a much bigger story with the neighbor. You did it in very few words, which isn’t easy.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply
petrujviljoen

January 25, 2019

There’s much that went unsaid here I think.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply
Frank Hubeny

January 25, 2019

I like the thought of that swing so carefully made and now no longer used.

LikeLike

Reply
Björn Rudberg (brudberg)

January 25, 2019

There is such a story in that swing no longer used… and then that darkness make sense.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply
1. Frank J. Tassone
  
  January 25, 2019
  
  There is always a sorrow in witnessing the laying down of childhood, as there is a joy in seeing the corresponding growing up. Thank, Bjorn! 🙂
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
Grace

January 26, 2019

The silence of the clubhouse set, meant sadness to me. A contrast to the vibrant emerald green of the tree.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply
navasolanature

January 26, 2019

This has quite an impact and your Haiku really tightly express the loss.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply
Lona Gynt

January 28, 2019

I bet the tree is subtly larger, waiting for grandchildren maybe… that is how I think of the empty playhouse room in our house, beautifully written. The solidity of nature, the fluidity of passage.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply
1. Frank J. Tassone
  
  January 28, 2019
  
  Thanks! 😀
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  Reply
Kestril Trueseeker

January 28, 2019

We can miss the saplings while still appreciating the growth of strong branches.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Reply