{"id":93186,"date":"2021-06-26T15:39:29","date_gmt":"2021-06-26T19:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/?p=93186"},"modified":"2021-06-26T15:39:48","modified_gmt":"2021-06-26T19:39:48","slug":"hour-seven-deep-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/2021\/06\/hour-seven-deep-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"Hour Seven: Deep Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I was in middle school<\/span><\/p>\n

Sitting in the back of the math class<\/span><\/p>\n

On account of alphabetical order<\/span><\/p>\n

(by last name)<\/span><\/p>\n

I never knew that everyone else\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

could see the equations<\/span><\/p>\n

In dark green dry erase marker<\/span><\/p>\n

at the front of the room clearly<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Coming home from the optometrist<\/span><\/p>\n

I stared out through the back seat window<\/span><\/p>\n

Of the family car<\/span><\/p>\n

in wonder<\/span><\/p>\n

Now able to see\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

the little leaves<\/span><\/p>\n

On the tall trees<\/span><\/p>\n

through glasses<\/span><\/p>\n

For the first time<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That little version of me<\/span><\/p>\n

Was quietly beginning to understand<\/span><\/p>\n

That I was different<\/span><\/p>\n

And my nuances were obscured\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

beneath the broad strokes<\/span><\/p>\n

My errant rivulets diverted\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Back into the mainstream<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do not draw me<\/span><\/p>\n

In your image\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Do not make me<\/span><\/p>\n

with a child\u2019s unsteady hand<\/span><\/p>\n

In an attempt to make\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A green triangle into a tree<\/span><\/p>\n

always missing the details<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

See my deep roots<\/span><\/p>\n

the wild, thorny vines<\/span><\/p>\n

Acknowledge the whorls and spots<\/span><\/p>\n

I have lost limbs<\/span><\/p>\n

Severed by rough, uncaring hands<\/span><\/p>\n

I have withstood forest fire<\/span><\/p>\n

And days of cooling rain<\/span><\/p>\n

I will continue throwing off my leaves\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

when it is time for me to transform again<\/span><\/p>\n

And, Yet, here I stand<\/span><\/p>\n

Swaying gently in the breeze<\/span><\/p>\n

And beneath me,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

you sit<\/span><\/p>\n

taking full advantage<\/span><\/p>\n

of my shade<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was in middle school Sitting in the back of the math class On account of alphabetical order (by last name) I never knew that everyone else\u00a0 could see the equations In dark green dry erase marker at the front of the room clearly…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1292,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marathon-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93186"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93193,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93186\/revisions\/93193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}