One Tree Hill

Joseph Geskey

A developer gestures
             with his hands
to a prospective client,
            the sea reflected
in both their sunglasses,
           while a solitary
limbo gumbo tree remains
            recalcitrantly dug into
a seaside hill.
            A solitary flycatcher
lands and grips
             a question mark-shaped branch
the circumference of a pencil,
           scribbling furiously now
from a gust of wind
            before adding its voice
for good measure.
           I append these words
to register my solidarity
           in protest to the dominant
gradient of blue
          that captures everyone’s attention
from shore to horizon,
          razing nature to denominations
of banknote green
          and the sound of waves
overwhelming the century-long
          susurration of windswept leaves.

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Joseph Geskey

Joseph Geskey works as an Internal Medicine physician in an underserved area in Columbus, Ohio. He has published two poetry collections, Alms for the Ravens (Mainstreet Rag Publishing Company) in 2024, and Vigil (Broken Tribe Press) forthcoming in 2026. Individual poems have appeared in Tar River Poetry, Poetry East, Cloudbank, JAMA, Roanoke Review, and many others. Please visit josephgeskey.com for further details.