Issue 6: Scott Owens

by Paula Lietz

Beautiful Tree Poem

Lying in bed I hear voices,

muted, distorted, probably just

the fan, sounding as I heard them once

on bended knees, Lord, forgive me.

Other times troubled, dreaming, uncertain,

He loves me; he loves me not.

I’ll be back. I promise. I’ll

never leave you. Sonofabitch!

How much more can I take?

What’s the point in trying?

Sometimes if I listen closely I hear

my grandmother on a good day saying

God is always listening, saying simply,

How beautiful the trees are.

Author of seven collections of poetry and over 800 poems published in journals and anthologies, Scott Owens is editor of Wild Goose Poetry Review, Vice President of the Poetry Council of North Carolina, and recipient of awards from the Pushcart Prize Anthology, the Academy of American Poets, the NC Writers’ Network, the NC Poetry Society, and the Poetry Society of SC. He holds an MFA from UNC Greensboro and currently teaches at Catawba Valley Community College. He grew up on farms and in mill villages around Greenwood, SC.

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