Poem of the Day: "Mesquite" by Carol Hamilton, Poet of the Month

Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is pleased to present "Mesquite" by Carol Hamilton, Poet of the Month.  Ms. Hamilton will also be serving as the guest judge for the Songs of Eretz Poetry Award Contest, which will run from September 1 to October 15, 2015.  A detailed biography of Ms. Hamilton may be found here:  http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2015/08/songs-of-eretz-poetry-review-poet-of.html.  The contest guidelines may be previewed here:  http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/p/songs-of-eretz.html.

Mesquite

Carol Hamilton

I reach deep

Tentacles driving earth

Packed deep, pressed down

Stone, cold stone

Pressured hot stone

I reach deep to ancient pools

I search, I search

Blindly, tenaciously

In cancerous thrusts

O God, thy watering places

Are hidden deep

In this dry land

And sun withers my green leaves

And hot winds bare my branches

I reach deep

A stretching, groping thing

My being is

The search

I live

O God of dry places,

I live

Poet’s Notes:  This poem, written many years ago, has a driving pace pushed along by repetition. I guess it might be called a persona poem if a mesquite were a person. In truth, I was living a time of struggle when I wrote it, and it expressed my identification with the amazing lengths desert flora and fauna go to survive.

Editor’s Poem:  God is everywhere, even in the most inhospitable places, and God will preserve you if you but reach out to Him.  What an inspiring message!  “Mesquite” was originally published in Sisters Today.