Oak Sanctuary, Aransas Wildlife Refuge
Lily Beaumont
At low ebb, see
the shell of tides
in oak trees kneeling,
prayerful,
towards the waves.
One drops
its boughs like skirts
to the salt-spit earth,
grapevines stretching
petticoat hoops
around its limbs—
last, modest
shade before
the flat gasp
of the sea.
Lily Beaumont’s poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in publications including Prolit, Star 82 Review, Wrongdoing, The Shore, and Phantom Kangaroo. She has an MA in English from Brandeis University and currently lives in Central Texas, where she works as a curriculum/study guide developer and editor.