• A LEAF IN THE HAND
    by uc poika

    one day a seed floating on a gentle breeze,
    a drop of dew and the footprint of a grouse
    came together under the crumpling of a clod
    caused by the kicking heels of the yearling buck
    that fertilized the space beyond the trees
    where grew the seedling then before the boughs
    which protected it until above the sod
    it pushed its head so far aloft it left me awestruck
    and became an oak, the sight of no slight increase,
    a giant of a tree that’d build a house
    if one was of such a mind to fight the odds
    or count on superstitious change and flux
    but my point defies even that line of thought
    since this leaf by my hand has said,
    Look! What Providence hath brought!