Tall Spruce by Doug Tanoury

There is a tall spruce
On the corner of my street
That is a gothic cathedral
Alive with motion when winds blow

When I stand beneath it I am
Filled with sacristy awe and quiet
Adoration as if I were looking
Up at vaulted and coffered ceilings

Each branch a cluster of finials
Pointing upward as if each
Needled twig is buttressed aloft
In chloroformed benediction

Every spruce points to God
Limbs untiring and raised
In evergreen worship swaying
In the subdued winds of May

Doug Tanoury, grew up in Detroit and still lives in the area with his wife and three children. Doug has been published in Writer's Digest, Ego Flights Alura Quarterly and A Year On The Avenue (Two Dog Press). Online he has been published by The Pittsburgh Quarterly, Eclectica, Poetry Magazine, Agnieszka's Dowry, Recursive Angel, The Astrophysicist's Tango Partner Speaks and others. The greatest influence on Doug and his work was the 7th grade poetry anthology used in Sister Debra's English class: Reflections On A Gift Of Watermelon Pickle And Other Modern Verse, Stephen Dunning, Edward Lueders and Hugh Smith, (c)1966 by Scott Foresman & Company.

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