The Olive Branch

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

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