There Once Did Live

There Once Did Live... by Odin Roark There once did live This tree now of charred tenacity With crumbling faithful statue of strength Steadfastly stationed atop its roots The stone statue of Hercules Father placed so long ago Now defaced with apple in his mouth Made buffoon by children Enjoying hijinks of youth There once did live My fortressed escape With hammered sticks as steps Giving flight from reality My stronghold in the sky This tree that housed so many dreams Now but a burned out cavity Remains of remembered life Entombed by climbing vines Flowered embracing round its trunk Reaching up left and right Forgetting not the limbs That once shaded its mythical protector Now with mouth crammed of apple How cruel Yet forgivable The ignorance of youth An age clinging tight The few years it has And how impassioned we become Upon visiting where once I did fantasize My own kind of mischief Hidden by the branches and leaves Guarded by mythology I knew little of Yet Yet today… How prescient this head of stone Askew like a court jester pondering me Seeming able to laugh at himself As I remove the apple Coaxing from me as well A grin of acceptance