Short story and poem by Bishop’s Stortford U3A creative writing group member Liz Brown

The latest in a series of pieces written by members of the Bishop’s Stortford U3A creative writing group, led by Peter Latham, which meets monthly, when they are set challenges on a wide range of subject matter

Liz Brown has penned a short story and a poem on the theme of renewal.

The tiny acorn fell swiftly to the woodland floor, bouncing once, twice, before finding refuge amongst the soft leaves of autumn.

There it lay, shining in the dappled sunlight. A small boy who was out walking with his mother saw it fall and asked her what it was.

“It’s an acorn,” she told him. “One day, if it is lucky, it will grow to be a great oak tree.”

The boy was intrigued. He took it home and planted it in the warm earth, tending and caring for it every day, watching it grow.

“When will it be a great oak?” he asked.

“It will take many years,” his mother said.

The acorn grew and flourished, growing steadily year on year.

The boy became an old man and was gone by the time the acorn became a great oak.

But the oak tree remembered the boy.

The Acorn

I’ll sleep till the sun warms the damp dark earth,

And soft spring rains fall sweet,

When the wind from the west caresses the land

And days mark a different beat.

Enfolding earth has been my bed,

My refuge through the storm,

The time has come for me to grow

To forge my new life form.

For mighty will I be one day,

And all around will see

That from one shining tiny seed

There grows a great oak tree.