The Magnolia Tree by Byron Beynon

Outside the abbey window
facing south,
near the furrowed path
I've walked,
the magnolia tree grows
timeless and mindful
as it shakes in the wind of thought.
There is a quietude here,
a storehouse of untamed depths
beyond anything known.
I have let my shadow 
fall on its trunk,
imagined how it felt
with the sun on its bark.
Understanding how
with each season's fraction
it will survive winter's blast,
its primitive roots of place
starless and mysterious
from the virulent frost.







Byron Beynon grew up in a village in West Wales. After living in London, Norway, France and Australia, he currently lives in Swansea, Wales. Among his collections are The Sundial (Flutter Press), The Echoing Coastline (Agenda Editions) and Through Ilston Wood (Lapwing Publications, Belfast).