The Olive Branch

An oak tree stands outside the Almetris Duren Residence Hall in Austin, Texas on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024.  (Photo / Yashi Gupta)

A river idles alongside,
turning with me, my mirror; a twin.

Flames burn blue
across the Red Sea
where I stand, waiting.

Grasping at a tree over
our heads, I ask you to
look at its leaves.

2. Sunlights peers through the leaves at The Japanese Tea Garden in San Antonio, Texas, on Nov. 25, 2024.  (Photo / Yashi Gupta)

But the blackbird  calls you to a dream
he left behind in history.

The olive branch blooms,
green and golden, like
a light that blinds.

Secrets, kept and
told, are carried away
by the wind in a whisper.

Light shines on a multicolored leaf at The Japanese Tea Garden in San Antonio, Texas, on Nov. 25, 2024. (Photo / Yashi Gupta) 

And the promise we made
to this land, on this land,
is long forgotten.