Wood Witch

The lonely lady
peruses the history of rainy
summers shining
through tree stump rings.

She traces bark with gnarled fingers,
tastes the snow of past winters,
listens to whispered stories
shelved for centuries

in the library of knowledge
stored in every tree, shrub and hedge.

The forest shares
its secrets, its treasures,
and its warnings
of a terrifying

storm one day
when leaves, twigs,
branches, trunks
will all be swept away.

Kim M. Russell, 8th November 2022

Image by Ksenia Yakovleva on Unsplash

For this Tuesday’s Poetics at the dVerse Poets Pub, Lill has reminded us of the Golden Raspberry Awards, first held in 1981 awarded to the perceived worst films of the year, the opposite of the Academy Awards.

Lill has given us a list of thirteen movies that have received the Golden Raspberry Award. She asks us to choose at least one title and include it, word for word, in our poems. I chose Shining Through (1982), The Lonely Lady (1983) and Swept Away (2002).

32 thoughts on “Wood Witch”

  3. This is deliciously dark and powerful writing, Kim! I especially like this part; “tastes the snow of past winters, listens to whispered stories shelved for centuries.” 😍😍

    Liked by 1 person

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  9. So, Jane wrote (of course) what I was thinking, but it’s so true. The trees do know, we can trace history in their rings, and their roots whisper the future. I imagine your lonely lady tracing the bark–so evocative.

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