• Facebook
  • BlueSky
  • Instagram
  • GoFundMe
  • Threads
  • Mastodon
roostlogohead2cropped-transp-blue-owlS.pngroostlogohead2roostlogohead2
  • Home
  • All Magazine Issues
  • About
    • Vision and Mission
    • Meet the MockingOwls
      • Leadership Team
      • Editorial & Writing Team
      • Design & Web Team
      • Performing Arts & Tabletop RPG Team
    • Our Contributors
    • Contact
  • Submission Guidelines
  • Blog
    • Artist Profiles
    • Best Of
      • Gaming Corner
      • Round Ups
    • Film and Theatre
      • The Acting Side
    • Inspiration for All
      • Positivity Corner
    • Fiction
    • Poetry
    • Music
      • Music Performance
      • Music Reviews
    • Reviews
      • Book Reviews – Fiction
      • Book Reviews – Nonfiction
      • Film Reviews
      • Tea Reviews
    • Resources
      • NaNoWriMo
      • Writing Prompts
      • Books for Writers
    • Series
      • Travel
        • Literary Travel
      • Fitness for Creatives
      • My Favorite Things
      • Writing Memories
      • Things I Wish I’d Said
  • Staff Services
  • Resources for Creatives
    • Presses Taking Unsolicited Submissions – No Agent Necessary
  • Support Us
✕
No results See all results

Elegy for a Tree That Forgot My Name

Published by Joshua Walker at April 24, 2026
Categories
  • Nature Poetry
  • Poetry
Tags
  • Arbor Day
  • Elegy for a Tree That Forgot My Name
  • Free Verse
  • Joshua Walker
  • Longing
  • nature
  • poetry
  • Swallowed in Bark
  • trees
A soft, watercolor-style illustration shows an old, weathered tree with a thick, twisting trunk and sparse, fading leaves clinging to a few bare branches. The tree stands alone on pale ground, surrounded by light washes of beige and muted green that give the image a quiet, reflective mood. The MockingOwl Roost logo appears to the left of the tree, reinforcing the piece as part of a literary publication layout. Every Spring TEXT: ELEGY FOR A TREE THAT FORGOT MY NAME; Joshua Walker; Poetry

Image by artchicago from Unsplash

They planted you before I could speak,
and by the time I did,
you’d learned the wind’s tongue instead.

I carved a heart you swallowed in bark
not out of hunger,
but ritual.

Every autumn, you let go
more easily than I do.
Every spring,
you grew further from the boy who named you.

I think I dreamed you once
into stillness.

I think you stayed.


Want more nature reads? Try some of these pieces! 

  • Poetry – Nature’s Whispers of Colours
  • Personal Essay – It’s Raspberry Season, a Creative Garden Series Essay
  • Poetry Special – Breath of Nature 
  • Fitness For Creatives – From the Mountaintops: 5 Hikes for Inspiration

🍵 We run on pure passion here at the Roost and every bit of help goes a long way! If you’d like to support our on-going efforts to keep our publication free for everyone, consider fueling us with a digital tea.

Joshua Walker
+ postsBio

Joshua Walker, also known as The Last Bard, is an independent poet whose work explores memory, identity, and the fragile spaces between connection and solitude. Drawing from personal experiences and the layered textures of everyday moments, his poetry weaves raw emotional honesty with vivid metaphor and subtle surrealism. Based in Oklahoma City, Joshua’s work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies, blending introspection with universal themes. When not writing, he advocates for mental health awareness and the enduring power of poetry to capture the unspoken truths of human experience.

Find more from Joshua on BlueSky, Instagram, and Threads.

    This author does not have any more posts.

Related posts

Illustration of a small, rooted sprout between colors of cyan and yellow, with a shadow that looks like a butterfly instead of dual leaves. TEXT: Progress is a Seminal Shade - Poetry - Nattie O'Sheggzy

Image created on Canva

August 27, 2026

Progress is a Seminal Shade


Read more
A dark and gray cloudy sky with a small opening of light shining through. God builds me Text: A smiling god, Linette rabsatt, poetry

Image created on Canva

August 24, 2026

A Smiling God


Read more
An open bible page with a wooden cross in the middle held together by twine. Apostles Text: The Gospel According to St. Vitaphile, Nick Cooke, Poetry

Image created on Canva

August 21, 2026

The Gospel According to St. Vitaphile, in Six Verses


Read more

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

"If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."

Toni Morrison

Archives

  • August 2026
  • July 2026
  • June 2026
  • May 2026
  • April 2026
  • March 2026
  • February 2026
  • January 2026
  • December 2025
  • November 2025
  • October 2025
  • September 2025
  • August 2025
  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021

Newsletter Signup Form

Newsletter Signup Form
© 2021 The MockingOwl Roost.

All Rights Reserved