The Forgotten Olive
after San Juan de la Cruz
In the abandoned orchard olive trees stand like skeletal fingers reaching for a forgotten sky
Their gnarled branches twisted like the threads of a worn rope the leaves a deep, dusty green
In the stillness, a single fruit clings to its branch, a withered heart that holds the memory of oil and the warmth of a distant fire
I took the themes of longing and the beauty of nature from San Juan de la Cruz, and applied them to a forgotten olive orchard, where the passage of time and neglect have left only remnants of a once-thriving landscape. The poem's focus on the concrete, sensual details of the orchard is inspired by his preference for embodied experiences.