I sit
motionless
beneath
an hallowed oak
bark wrinkled
slashed
split
by many
a passing storm

a large
trout
feeds cautiously
languidly
in its shadows
midst tangling weeds
and mossy banks

no heron yet

a yellow butterfly
adds colour
river green

I lie back
pink, yellow, orange
flowers make me a bed

O the scent of it all

up in the oak
new shoots emergent
mid drifting
early Spring

this tree
this very tree
outlived the Kaiser
all horrors after
silent witness
still standing
standing still

it will outlive me
for sure

I smile

but not the Spree
dancing mayflowers
for you and me

04/30/2017