The Oak Leaf

The Oak Leaf

Heather Kaufmann

Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. - Luke 18:25

Through the eye of the needle
I see a forest
of ponderosa pine
a sheen of emerald green
peppered through with pops
of oak and maple—

a breeze tickles the trees’
tallest branches
and their laughter floats
on its way to the one
who watches over all
these riches—

who shines like the dawn
on glittering shafts
down to the littlest leaf
now falling in faith
that one day its death
will become our breath.

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Heather Kaufmann
Poet & Grant Writer

Heather is a New England native, poet, and freelance grant writer. Her recent work has been published in Christian Century, The Windhover, CRUX, and St. Katherine Review. She is the recipient of the 2022 Luci Shaw Prize for Creative Writing from Regent College.

Photography by Gleb Lucky