~ Delta Poetry Review ~

Sandra Salinas Newton

Oak

Through the fanlight above the door

The sun streams in like rivulets of air

But all I see is the broken arm of the oak

Forlorn in the front yard.

That Texas outlaw, high-plains ice, rode in

On winter's bitter cold to crack its horsewhip

At the staid and stoic oak, until a crashing blow

Snapped off a branch to hurtle in shock

Onto the bone-dry grass below.

I may have heard the wounding that

Disturbed last night's somber dark

Yet thought it nothing but the sky weeping

Its dying stars, only to find in daylight

The oak's arm sheared off and lying

Jagged in the front yard.

The loss is no more or less than

My waking up old and full of grief.

Sandra Salinas Newton is a 79-year-old Filipina-American poet and novelist and a professor emeritus of English currently living in Austin, Texas. Her published work includes texts, essays, fiction, and currently poetry, in over fifty online and print journals. She was one of four finalists in the 2022 Writers' League of Texas Manuscript Contest (Historical Fiction category). Her website is www.snewton.net.