Doctrine of Oaks
The music falls soft and low tonight
Like candlelight
Gathered grace and petalled billows on a mossy forest floor
Surety swells and swirls and sings softly the songs of the coming winter
Do you hear it?
Where will you be when the lyrics float through these frozen trees
And frostbit leaves
Shifting and revealing the schemes
Of 1000 year oaks?
The ancients who were
And are
Slavery and freedom a moon’s breath away
You are one of them
Born into a forest of ancient decrees
A birth within which
You had no say
In secrecy, you obey
Looming shadows and darkness
Frozen beneath the trees and fear of past injustice
You’re right
We are all hypocrites here
These lyrics are yours as well as mine
Falling soft and low tonight
Hushed harmonies and lazy melodies
Meant to drift us all back to sleep
To believe in the power
That we can see
Manipulate
Extrapolate truth
Like moonlight and candlelight
Streaming through glass paned windows
Shadows of burning trees and subtleties
Lie on the ground below
Cool moss calling as earthen pillows
Moonlight embracing the night
Decrees of 1000 year old trees
Slaves to the doctrine of oaks and darkness
We are both soldiers here
On different sides
Of the coming sunrise
You are seen and known
And loved as you are
Can you feel my words?
I understand what you can do
And I still love you
Freedom and slavery, calls to you
As it does me
We just define it differently
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"Doctrine of Oaks" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/181754/doctrine-of-oaks>.
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