POEM: The Oak Tree

Posted 8 July, 2010 in Audio Poems, Family, My poems, Poetry

The Oak Tree [ 1:50 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Listen to this poem using the player above.

Another poem for my wife.

The Oak Tree
(for Jennifer)

I had already asked you three times
you’d wisely declined
I was too young, too unproven
played the saxophone in a latin jazz band
you repaired houses for the poor
we each made barely enough to pay the rent

the fourth time was under an oak tree
at your mother’s house
you finally agreed, throwing caution
to the Pennsylvania wind
we were back East on a rare trip
to see our families, to display one another

that tree had been there for years and years
since the fields next to the dairy farm
were turned into a housing development
for upwardly mobile college professors
whose daughters spoke two languages
and traveled the world on the way to good lives

no one thought we’d last
they all said I was too young, too unproven
played the saxophone in a latin jazz band
couldn’t provide for you
all those beautiful 1950s sentiments
born of monochrome evenings with the Cleavers

but under that oak tree –
a sign of stability, of permanence –
you agreed to place a bet on the long shot
I held your hands as a stray leaf fell,
like your resistance, to rest
in the lush green grass behind the houses

after you said yes
we traveled north to my parents’ house
my mother gave me a wedding ring
that had been her grandmother’s
granting us her blessing
even though she doubted our future

the oak tree is gone now,
cut down by your mother
all these years I’d thought she hated what it represented
only found out this week that it was damaged
in an ice storm and had to be cut before it fell
so many things misunderstood

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6 comments to “POEM: The Oak Tree”

Numinee, July 8th, 2010 at 1:41 pm:

  • I love that I can read your poems and get such a good sense of what you’re feeling. I’ll look forward to the next one. ♥

Jason Crane, July 8th, 2010 at 1:42 pm:

  • Thanks. And I might just add that you’re not MY numinee. You’re my mominee.

Jason Byrne, July 8th, 2010 at 5:37 pm:

  • Jason – so beautiful, so revealing and very touching – thank you for sharing this.

    Jason

Jason Crane, July 8th, 2010 at 6:37 pm:

  • Thanks, Jason.

suzi smith, November 3rd, 2010 at 5:31 pm:

  • Hi Jason… came via festival of trees… very touching…so easy to misunderstand eh? guess the old oak tree gave its blessing too.

Jason Crane, November 3rd, 2010 at 10:05 pm:

  • Thanks for your thoughts, Suzi. Glad you stopped by.

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