My Mouth Has Grown Hard
by John Tustin

My mouth has grown hard
And my tongue become bitter
With the passing of the seasons
Where I stand in this one place
Like a tree rooted in a ground
Both poisoned and treacherous

My eyes have grown varnished
And my hands become colder
With the passing of the seasons
Where I stand in this one place
Like a tree dead but still standing
Without leaves or bark or seeds

Any tree falls
If the ground stops supporting it
And the wind is hard enough
And sustained
Enough 

—

John Tustin’s poetry has appeared in many disparate literary journals in the last dozen years. Fritzware.com/johntustinpoetry contains links to his published poetry online.