when we fall
by Clark Ogier
when trees die of old age,
after years and years
of trying to touch the sky,
they buckle under their own weight.
they split and fall to earth.
when they can no longer escape the pull
of earth’s gravity, they snap
and shake the earth
in one last cry for heaven.
when we humans are old and dying,
we bend.
we cripple
and slowly lie down.
we cower to the ground,
silently dreaming our final revelries
of the stars we never touched.
if we’re lucky,
we may hear the roar,
feel the earth tremble,
as one more tree shakes the ground
beneath our closing eyelids.
Artist: Clark Ogier
Genre: Poetry
Bio: Clark Ogier spent two years teaching in China after graduating from UNF in 2011 with a BA in Philosophy and English. He now works at a local concert venue and writes in his spare time.
Piece: when we fall
Piece Description: There’s no such thing as an elegant death, but there can be powerful ones. I envy trees.