Never Climb in Pretty Shoes


(I was once the girl in the oak.)

You inhabit the limbs
of the oak tree outside
my window.

The wind speaks in your voice
when the smallest leaf
flutters in the womb
of a branch.

I wish I was up there with you
so close to the sky bluebirds search
to see if you have wings.

I don’t remember when
I forgot how to climb.
Was it on a Monday or
when I was told scraped knees
dull the polish on pretty shoes?

©Susie Clevenger 2019

#NaPoWriMo2019

Real Toads ~ The Tuesday Platform

Comments

Kim M. Russell said…
I used to be a demon for climbing trees when I was little, Susie. I love the lines:

‘The wind speaks in your voice
when the smallest leaf
flutters in the womb
of a branch.’

I don’t remember when I forgot how to climb, either, and I’ve never heard of the saying about scarped knees and pretty shoes. But my mother sometimes reminded me of the time she dressed me up in a dress and frilly underwear ready to go out and I climbed a tree and the frills got caught in a branch!
Sanaa Rizvi said…
There is something equally beguiling and scary about someone inhabiting the limbs of an oak tree, it puts me in mind of ghosts or perhaps courage waiting to be discovered.. Love it!!❤️
tonispencer said…
Very sad. Scraped knees are not a sin although some people seem to think so.
Rommy said…
I never learned to climb, partly because I was a bit of a coward and partly for the reasons you mentioned. I wonder what would have happened if I ignored both the fear of heights and fear of disappointing others. I imagine the view from up there would have been something. It's wonderful that you enjoyed it for at least a little while before you were discouraged.
Jim said…
I'm thinking that some would call you a Tom boy, that's what the girls who climbed trees were called around us. When you couldn't climb I appreciated your curiosity as to check the one in the tree for wings:
"I wish I was up there with you
so close to the sky bluebirds search
to see if you have wings.
".
I also climbed trees, my sister did not except going up to my tree house out in the grove.
..
Magaly Guerrero said…
Those last few lines make me want to write a gang of wild little girls, little girls that tight their pretty dresses between their legs to make them into pants, little girls who will climb every tree they can... knowing that toes are prettiest when they have decorated bark with a bit of skin... on their way to the sky.
Magaly Guerrero said…
*still shaking my fists and growling*
Anmol (HA) said…
There's something so beautiful about this personification or perhaps "treefication" — I love the images and the sounds here. This is such wonderful penmanship: "The wind speaks in your voice/when the smallest leaf/flutters in the womb/of a branch."
Such a long time ago that I too used to climb trees. The best ones had nooks in the branches for sitting and reading! Thanks for reminding me.
the spirit of the child still climbing in you Susie
Thotpurge said…
so close to the sky bluebirds search
to see if you have wings. -- oh that is magical!
Sarah Russell said…
Ah, how we’re cajoled into being “ladies,” beguiled with pretty things we mustn’t get dirty or scraped, and learn our place is not to reach for high places. So well done, Susie!
Kerry O'Connor said…
I like the idea of having a friend that is really a tree, or naiad.
Vivian Zems said…
Beautiful! I never had the joy of climbing trees when I was younger. Of course, if I tried now, there'd need to be an ambulance on stand-by!!
Carrie Van Horn said…
This is a wonderful poem Susie! I love the title, and I love the vision of what we lose sometimes as we get older, and more concerned with other things. Keep climbing Susie!