Rick Rauch: “Loblolly Pines”
LOBLOLLY PINES
Random densities
of pine cones top
the tall, slender loblollies
swaying slightly
to light, sporadic breezes
in imperfect unison
with their fellows.
One cannot help but feel calmed
by their restrained buoyancy
before the gray
grifting overcast
descending.
It would be nice to climb one,
to look back
at my empty hammock,
still swaying, still bulging
with my presence
in my absence.
Rick Rauch has had poetry published in various literary journals, including Burningword, Cape Rock, Confrontation, Crack the Spine, Euphony, Jet Fuel, Grey Sparrow, The MacGuffin, Pembroke Magazine, Wild Violet, and the anthologies Love Notes (Vagabondage Press) and Down to the Dark River: Contemporary Poems about the Mississippi River (Louisiana Literature Press).