Post

A tree with no name

Diane Jackman
· ·
CC-BY-NC: Alban LowUTF Creative writing image for JW workshop
Be the first to favourite this.

Long listed for the 2023 Urban Tree festival writing competition

You were always noticed
even if no one knew your name. 
Exiled in a corner of the car park 
cut off from the detached landscape, 
sole survivor in the county.

Travelling from Iran to France
before the Revolution:
did some émigré smuggle a cutting 
from his arboretum, memory
of lost home, lost friends, lost fortune?

Your size and strength piqued interest. 
Your hanging racemes shed delight. 
What is that tree? asked visitors.
In your beauty and mystery
you kept your secret well.

Came the day we read the news 
spreading across the local press.
This dangerous tree which must be felled.
Caucasian wing-nut tree,
Too late, a name to offer visitors.

But they will appreciate 
two extra parking spaces.
  • Read other longlisted entries from the 2023 Urban Tree Festival competition
  • Itching to write something yourself? Submit a piece to our Shorelines project, and invite your friends to read it aloud. Join one of our creative writing workshops or keep up to date with all our competitions by signing up to our curated newsletter here.
    • Diane Jackman

    Diane Jackman

     

    Diane Jackman started as a writer of books and stories for younger children, but now concentrates on poetry. She has won several competitions and been widely published in the UK and USA. This year she is writer in residence for the Hysteria writing compe...

    More

    Leave a Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Also check out

    Post
    I can’t help it

    1 Sep, 2023

    Longlisted for the 2023 Write about Walking A/way competition.

    Jan Martin
    Post
    Foul Weather, Wild Fowl

    1 Sep, 2023

    Longlisted for the 2023 Write about Walking A/way competition.

    PETER ISAACSON
    Post
    This Leaf

    1 Apr, 2023

    This Leaf by Penny Denman long listed for the 2023 Urban Tree festival competition.

    Penny Dedman
    Post
    Jacaranda: Blue On Blue

    1 Apr, 2023

    Jacaranda: Blue on Blue by John Bowen long listed in the 2023 Urban Tree festival writing competition.

    john bowen
    Post
    Warning: Dangerous Tree

    1 Apr, 2023

    Warning: Dangerous Tree by Julian Bishop long listed in the 2023 Urban Tree festival writing competition.

    Julian Bishop•
    1
    Post
    Poetree (an urban forest shanty)

    1 Apr, 2023

    Poetree by Bin Rich long listed in the 2023 Urban Tree festival writing competition.

    binrich
    Post
    When the Bough Holds Strong

    1 Apr, 2023

    When the Bough Holds Strong by Andrew Halsall Smith long listed for the 2023 Urban Tree festival writing competition.

    Andrew Halsall Smith
    Post
    Tree

    1 Apr, 2023

    Tree by Admoni long listed in the 2023 Urban Tree festival writing competition.

    Galia Admoni
    Post
    Death of a Veteran – south London 1973

    1 Apr, 2023

    Death of a Veteran - south London 1973 by Arthur Sparrow long listed in the 2023 urban Tree festival writing competition.

    Arthur Sparrow
    1
    Post
    Evergreen

    1 Apr, 2023

    Evergreen by Em Gray long listed in the 2023 Urban Tree festival writing competition.

    Em Gray•
    Post
    Walking A/way with the prizes…

    24 Sep, 2023

    At the Sound Walk Stories Sunday showcase event of new writing, at which the shortlisted poems and stories from our 2023 Walking A/way themed writing competition, were read by their inspiring authors, we learnt which of them walked away with the prizes.

    Andrew Stuck•
    1
    1
    Post
    Leaving and Arriving

    1 Sep, 2023

    Longlisted for the 2023 Write about Walking A/way competition.

    Julie Coldwell