Poem-a-Day - "Trees at Night" by Helene Johnson

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February 13, 2022 

Trees at Night

Helene Johnson

Slim Sentinels
Stretching lacy arms
About a slumbrous moon;
Black quivering
Silhouettes,
Tremulous,
Stencilled on the petal
Of a bluebell;
Ink sputtered
On a robin’s breast;
The jagged rent
Of mountains
Reflected in a
Stilly sleeping lake;
Fragile pinnacles
Of fairy castles;
Torn webs of shadows;
And
Printed ’gainst the sky—
The trembling beauty
Of an urgent pine.

This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on February 13, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.

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“Trees at Night” appeared in Opportunity III, no. 29 (May, 1925), where it received honorable mention in the poetry section of Opportunity’s first ever literary contest.

Helene Johnson was a poet and writer during the Harlem Renaissance movement. The recipient of prizes and recognitions from the Boston Chronicle and Opportunity, her poetry was featured in several magazines and publications from the Harlem Renaissance, including Fire!! She died on July 7, 1995.

Opportunity
(May, 1925)

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Thanks to John Murillo, author of Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry (Four Way Books, 2020), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month’s weekdays. Listen to a Q&A about Murillo’s curatorial approach and find out more about our guest editors for the year.
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