Winter Tree
- Winter Tree
A lot goes on behind my back.A row of icicles pulling at the eavesGrew three inches before I thought to look;A snow falling an evening throughContrived knee-depth before I knew.I see what's done. The doing is concealed.Things happen I know nothing of,But once I saw a walnut shed her leavesAll in haste, within a half hour's time,And shift her season, become a winter tree,Stand bare of foliage and her body free,The last bough stark, the farthest twig revealed.A lot goes on while my head is turned,And nobody bothers to watch and hall "Look!" [End Page 109]
James Still was the author of several works of fiction and poetry, including The Wolfpen Poems; From the Mountain, From the Valley; and River of Earth, a novel widely regarded as his masterpiece. His final book, a manuscript titled Chinaberry, was edited by Silas House and published after Still's death. He died April 28, 2001.
