poetry / writing prompts

The lightning tree

Chris Hall62 Comments
The image shows a crooked tree with bare branches. In the background stars in the sky can be seen forming streaks in a circular fashion.

We called it the lightning tree. Stunted and blackened it stood resolute, stark against the moon-bright night, while shooting stars circled wildly over the soft, velvet plain. Here we farmed, here cattle roamed over long-stemmed grass and here we were happy.

but drought-stricken land
thirsted for seven summers:
grass withered, we fled.

The lightning tree still stands, its final branch fallen, the stars the only witnesses. Finally, the rains return, falling softly, pattering on the parched land, washing over sun-bleached rocks and the desolate dried-up plain.

the ground drinks deeply
yellow and pink flowers bloom
but no-one will see.

The lightning tree still stands, but no-one sees but the stars.

~~~~~~~~

Image credit: Tasos Mansour @ Unsplash
The image shows a crooked tree with bare branches. In the background stars in the sky can be seen forming streaks in a circular fashion.

Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #133 photo prompt

62 thoughts on “The lightning tree”

    • The rural communities that are being affected by the worsening drought are more than likely the descendants of the ancient hunter-gatherer groups who were driven off that same land by the first farmers. So, yes, an excellent comparison.

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    • That is the way of the land here. Flower seeds will lie dormant for years to be awoken by the eventual rains. Perhaps we can draw some comfort from this.
      Thanks, Punam.🌺

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  19. This reminds me of the ‘Dust Bowl’ era of the US… when too much land was farmed and then no rain, sad when the sky has no witnesses. But maybe the fae in the tree? I would so like to believe in some magic.

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      • I think there are some Native Peoples who already know that… But there are always those that want more than the land can give.

        I tried playing with my food. I cut the bottoms off of brussel sprouts and put them in water. It took awhile but little bitty brussel sprouts are growing. I transfered them over to my raised garden today – just to see what happens. 🙂

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          • Kind of like garlic, a flavor one either likes or doesn’t. I read somewhere that some Royal family member doesn’t like garlic so no one in the royal household can eat it! Not allowed in the kitchens!! Really??

            Let me know if you try sprouting sprouts. 😀
            Being I’m more from the city than the country the first time I saw brussels on their stalk… well I was surprised. In some fancy stores you can buy brussels on the stalk! I bet that stalk would be great cut up for veggie stock. 😀

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            • My computer news feed has more than enough stories about the Queen (II) and her crew. I don’t read them all. But sometimes it is a fun distraction.

              I think the sprouts would work better with real (not frozen, but if they’ve gott a bottom… you could try it. I only did four in a shallow dish and kept them with water – then I started noticing the green ‘dots’… We’ll see what happens. Mine were getting afternoon sun.

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