I lay beneath the ginkgo tree
her beauty towered over me
as butterfly leaves waved in a breeze
happy to say hello.
An endangered legend to behold
autumn plumage of butterscotch gold
her tale, she whispered, a pining untold.
Her dressings glow their fabulous show
covering up her deep sorrow.
She was lonely without a soul to know
she'd been longing for a mate.
At night she'd cry as lovers walk by
gazing into each others eyes
speaking of love in giggles and sighs
and all she can do is wait.
Softly fall her tears to land
for the lover who is not at hand.
Feeling ungrand, in solitude stands
a last of the Maidenhair.
A sunset palette with foliage divine.
Adored by God and enduring time.
The butterflies fan her tears to dry.
The sun then warms her cold inside.
And keeps her from despair.
Her captor is the nutrient Earth
guiding her through layers of dirt
those of which she cannot desert.
An affair of life and death.
Her worth in myth is rock embedded
immortalized and immediately present
a languid sadness felt in me.
An empty herbal remedy.
As I lay beneath the ginkgo tree.
Reaching out in all directions;
a method to the imperfections.
Stunning in her retrospection.
Tolerance is in her climb.
She bursts in borealic glow;
too short a time her adornment sow.
A skeleton left is all that shows
The story told, and I, so bold
declare to do my best.
Create her mate and investigate
the intimate process.
I'll nuture and pine until it is time
to give him to the Earth.
Right next to you, goddess of hue
and cease your heart to hurt.
I worked and toiled
frantically soiled the embryonic seed.
My children grown, now I'm alone
and feel her yearning need.
Out of the dirt a lover grew,
handsome in his armored suit.
Tall and proud, prestige abound.
Firmly planted in the ground.
Besider her at last, a lover found
A promise kept by me the day
under the ginkgo tree I lay.

11/01/2007

Author's Note: What fun it was to write this piece. This is a writing assignment in my Creative Writing class. There is a ginkgo tree on campus. We had to look at it, learn about it, and write about it. It is also my first epic-like poem!

Posted on 11/01/2007
Copyright © 2025 Quinlan L Gibson