Oak — Web Exclusive
By Anonymous
Translated by John Estes
Its fruit the fodder that feeds the creatures cut
for meat, children's food; its body hewn to boards
travels the gannet's bath, a husk—guard—choppy seas
will judge whether the noble oak has kept its troth.
John Estes directs the Creative Writing Program at Malone University in Canton, OH. He holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Missouri, where he concentrated in poetics and environmental literature. His poems have appeared in Tin House, New Orleans Review, Southern Review, Iron Horse, and AGNI. His first book, Kingdom Come, was published in 2011 by C&R Press, and he is the author of two chapbooks: Breakfast with Blake at the Laocoön and Swerve, which was selected by C.K. Williams for a National Chapbook Fellowship from the Poetry Society of America.