Mighty Oak

Mighty Oak

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Mighty oak, I curl into the curve of your base, fitting myself into the secret place where your trunk spreads into the ground and roots knit into the land and call it home. 

Wedging myself between the breaching roots, I am sheltered from the heat of the sun. 

And a symphony of leaves all sing their sweet tune as the wind rushes through them, leaving only a scent of maple once the melody’s sung through. 

How I wish I could melt into you. Here the air is clean, it is crisp and filling me like you’ve poured clarity into my bones and placed truth where the marrow once lived. 

I am strong, and brimming with life as it pierces the places of stagnancy. Only here can I truly come alive. 

I will cling to your steady wood for all my life, for you are the safest place to be. The forest is full of snares and predators, I am so aware out there that I am merely prey. 

But there’s no where I can go where your branches can’t provide shade. And there’s no ground I can burrow in where your roots haven’t staked a claim. 

Above me and below me and all around me is your name. The oxygen of you feeds everything in this place. 

So as the sun pours into the Earth and night begets day, I will come back to the place where I am always, always safe. 

Watch

Watch my performance of this poem at Sanctuary 2025, an art exhibition at Spitalfields Church hosted by The Pursuit of Good Stuff: