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January 15th, 2026
by Casey Bloom
Are you there, Trees?
I am seeking –
To inquire if we are both breathing.
Is this just a bad dream?
I feel your sap seeping.
If this is reality,
My suffering is peaking.
If this is a lesson,
What should I be reading?
If this means nothing,
Then give me some peace, please.
Are you there, Trees?
I am pleading –
I go to my knees
And beg for new seasons.
I look at fallen leaves
To search for the reasons.
We've weathered the storms,
But I'm the only one freezing.
Please teach me more
Than my presence and being.
Are you there, Trees?
I believe me –
But when I look to myself
I am punished for fleeing.
Away from bushes and birds
Outing secrets they're keeping.
Peace within self
Causes the havoc that's wreaking.
I continue to see
What snakes are not speaking.
Are you here, Trees?
I am feeling –
Like invasive species in
The friends I am keeping.
The woodpecker pecks,
But I'm the only one bleeding.
The fruit from my tree
Doesn't seem so appealing.
I see their berries rot, too,
But I'm the only one reeking.
I am here, Trees.
But I'm fatiguing –
It rains,
But it's never fleeting.
I am drowning in what
Keep your branches reaching.
The sun that guides them
Has been feeling misleading.
Are these roots something
From which I need freeing?
Are you there, Trees?
I am seeking –
To inquire if we are both breathing.
Is this just a bad dream?
I feel your bark bleeding.
If this is reality,
My suffering is speaking.
If this is a lesson,
What should I be heeding?
If this means nothing,
Then why am I grieving?
About the Poet
Casey Bloom resides in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Read the poet's biography and Wax Poetry and Art Publications on
Casey Bloom's Artist Page.
This poem is included in Poetry World #14, published in the Wax Poetry and Art Library.
Keywords: reflection, grief, healing
Previously published in Vancouver Island Poetry Magazine:
After the Curtain Falls
by Shinsaku Ashida
Vancouver Island Poetry Magazine is part of the Wax Poetry and Art Network.
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