Once Upon a Time, an Olive Tree

My elders were chopped down and burned, 
their roots too deep to uproot, their veins spread, 

shoots spoke in tongues, mapping the field, 
an invisible presence throbbing under the earth, 

thirsting for each raindrop, remembering every bird’s 
trill and nest, the air redolent with blossoms, 

the smell of grilled skewers, baking stones, 
freshly roasted coffee, feet stomping the earth 

with joy, a rhythm of life inscribed in every pore. 
Will children ever know how much I miss their branches’

lacy shadow woven with stories and wisdom?

First published by Pirene's Fountain
From The Taste of the Earth (Press 53 2019)

Artist Statement

"Once Upon a Time, an Olive Tree" is part of my memoir in verse titled The Taste of the Earth (Press 53 2019), which is a meditation on the aftermath of violence and the importance of remembering not only what brought us beauty and happiness but also the cracks and fissures caused by pain and sorrow. "Once Upon a Time, an Olive Tree" is told from the perspective of an olive tree lamenting the devastating loss of its elders and their ancestral wisdom while finding solace in the permanence of real and metaphorical roots expanding into rhizomes that evoke happier times and instill beauty within suffering. 
This poem is part of a series of persona poems giving voice to inanimate objects that are silent witnesses to upheavals, including a broken jug, an abandoned fountain, an abandoned house, and a rose bush, each voice expressing its sorrow song, but also a longing to keep the past alive by telling and retelling. Objects and nature carry what they have witnessed, hidden truths awaiting to be revealed, offering with their testimony a broader perspective on the interconnectedness of worlds and universality of emotions as history repeats itself. Such poetic recollections from distant and more recent pasts serve as fragmented mirrors in an attempt to make sense of a fractured identity and bring together the intersecting roots of culture in an artistic recollection that bridges time and space, enabling one to overcome present and future challenges.