Middleton Oak
Rising majestically above the cultured gardens
You have been enjoyed and left to grow for 900 years.
How many children have swung from your branches?
Seen how many small arms it took to span your circumference?
Have you slapped down some who, in their impertinence, tried to climb to the top?
How much longer shall you stand?
And how gracefully shall you fall?
Rae Douglass
Middleton Place, South Carolina
3-9-99