For the Pines

Amanda Galeotti

I’ve known the paralyzing anguish

Of the dark nights of soul

When the gleaming edge of a blade

Glints like a glittering savior

I’ve been in cave pitch blindness

I’ve wondered in a world of 8 billion

How loneliness could ever put down roots

In despair, I’ve found communion

with mosquitoes and loons

black bears and ravens

And every phase of the moon

With sparkling stars, acting a scene

And trees

All of them

Especially the pine

With drooping boughs

And bleeding sap

Somehow when even the ash and sycamore have sunken to winter desolation

Bowed low by loads of winter snow

The pine holds the hope, keeps the needles

To weave a haven for winter wayfarers

How much grief have they swallowed for us

Just by being with us in winter

More from Amanda Galeotti ↓

1. @amandagaleotti on Instagram
2. @amandanichole on Substack

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I’m filling the next chapter of One Poem Only and would love to include your work. Send me the poem you wrote and want the world to hear. New this round: if you’d like to read your own poem on the podcast, you can. No need for a perfect studio recording—just a clear audio file recorded in a quiet space. If you choose this option, you’ll submit your poem and an audio file of you reading it. Submissions close Thursday, July 30. I’ll respond by August 12. Whether I read your poem or you read it yourself, I’d love to hear what you’re ready to share.