Beth King shares her poem inspired by the Betty Garrou painting at Art of Poetry on March 18, 2017 in the Hickory Museum of Art. Photo courtesy of Roger and Ginny Sanford.

Beth King
BARREN TREES OF WINTER
After “Two Groves” by Betty Garrou

Barren Trees of Winter with Shining Stars Above

Your Tendril Branches do not Frighten Me

Nor Seek to Possess Me

I Do Not Shriek from You

Or Taunt You Like Dorothy

No! I Applaud and Praise Your Goodness

As You are the Guardians of the Night

The Protectors of the Darkness

He and She Who Keep the Evil Away

The Stars Above You Make You Shine

With Incredulous Intensity

Luminous Against the Seeming Dank and Wicked

Drapes of the Nighttime Stillness

As the Creatures of the Wildness Sleep

You are Their Dreamcatcher

Dear Barren Trees of Winter

Let the Sparkling Stars Light Your Way

Although You Shall Live Forever and a Million Days

A Place in Heaven’s Everlasting Eternity

Is Reserved for You

A Place Where You, Also, Can Dream in Peace

Until the Sunlight of the Dawn Returns