Under The Dogwood Tree: A Collection Of Poetry

By Irene M. Wilcox

This collection of poetry ranges from celebrations of beginnings to the agony of loss and the certainty of death and its aftermath. There are poems reveling in the joys of nature and some that contemplate the troubles of life. Travel back in time as you read about the injustices experienced by slaves and the persecution of witches in Salem. The beauty of nature and the love of God are extolled as you join the author in a hurricane or sit under a dogwood tree. A tribute is offered to law enforcement officers and military women. All this and more as we celebrate life, death, and the hereafter. Emotions range from desperation and heartache to joy and awe. Some may make you laugh, and some may make you cry. Some readers will do both as they ride this roller coaster of poetry. So hop on, hold on to your seats, and enjoy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 7, 2024
• ISBN: 9798892436717

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Under The Dogwood Tree

A Collection Of Poetry

Irene M. Wilcox

ISBN 979-8-89243-670-0 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-89243-671-7 (digital)

Copyright © 2024 by Irene M. Wilcox

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

God's Handiwork

Spring in North Carolina

Heat

Hurricane

Under the Dogwood Tree

The Cricket

Flight of the Pelican

The Waltz

Three Sisters

Become a Star

Our Days Are Numbered

The Year

Dying

Old Cemeteries

Comfort

Miscarriage

My Little One

We Do Not Know

Unmerited

Children

Baby

Help

My Gift

My Best Friend

My Little Girl

First Grandchild

The Lost Ones

My First Granddaughter

Nelson

The Last Grandchild

My Grandchildren

People

Officers in Blue

Patriots

A Pilgrimage

Bits and Pieces

Blond in Disguise

My Love

My Special Friend

Remarkable People

Trouble in Salem, 1692

Some Things to Think About

Grandma Nurse

Think

Murder

Walk with God

The Winner

Sin

My Sin

Kiss

Greatest Sin

Trials

Praise God from Who All Blessings Flow

The Good King

Condemned

Wonder of Wonders

A Thousand Tongues

Words

Eternity

Agony

A Drop of Water

The Place

Heaven

Purity

Prayer

Songs

God Will Provide

Hands

I Can Praise Him

Jesus Didn't Complain

Sweet Grace

The King

Today

Useless Vessel

He Chose to Remain

Glorious Day

That Day

Sweet Story

The Tree in the Water

Mary and the Alabaster Box

The Fig Tree

About the Author

God's Handiwork

And God saw every thing that he made, and, behold, it was very good.

—Genesis 1:31 (KJV)

Spring in North Carolina

Cold winters,

wind and rain,

long nights, short days

soon forgotten

in the beauty of spring.

Verdant leaves appearing on bare limbs

dressing the woods with beauty,

Dogwood white

hovering in the midst,

Azalea pinks, whites, and lilacs

on bushes below,

Green grass replacing brown,

Wisteria purple

perfuming the air,

freshly mowed lawns adding to the fragrance.

Beauty imprinted on the mind

to be slowly forgotten

in summer's humidity.

Heat

Heat emanating from the street.

Vapors visibly rising, blurring vision.

Sweat streaming from pores,

running into the eyes,

down the face,

along the back,

causing discomfort and itch

in unmentionable places.

A slight breeze brings momentary relief

only to disappear as quickly as it came.

Just another hot, humid summer.

Hurricane

Stalwart standing timber

swaying side to side

keeping time with the strain

of the wailing wind.

Towering pine trees

moaning, creaking, cracking

snapping in two,

tops crashing to terra firma.

Trees pulled up as if by powerful unseen hands,

their roots swinging in the atmosphere,

coming to repose against neighbors

whose support they supplicate

or, in their exhaustion, collapsing to earth

with a loud thud.

Leaves, twigs, branches

dancing in the tempest

or soaring through the sky

striking magnolias, dogwoods, azaleas,

becoming implanted in the grass.

Ordinarily vertical precipitation

becoming nearly horizontal,

soaking already saturated soil

and rivaling rising waters.

Waves thunderously crashing

against disappearing shores,

ravenously consuming all in sight.

I stand in the midst of it all

enraptured by this awesome power of God,

Master of the universe.

Under the Dogwood Tree

Sitting under a Dogwood tree,

enjoying peace and serenity.

A blade of grass waves gently in the breeze

its shadow mimicking a carpet of old pine straw and dead oak leaves.

Daddy longlegs on the same matting,

gingerly stepping over pinecones and twigs crisscrossing.

Still and silent in the shade, till another breeze

awaken the tiny sweetgum saplings' tender leaves.

Thousands of years, it's been the same.

How much longer will it remain?

The Cricket

Oh, little cricket, what do you see?

Somehow, you landed on my black jeans.

Do you think me a tree with a large blue leaf,

as you look up at my light blue tee?

And when I move,