"Neglect"

In “Neglect,” R.T. Smith conveys a remorseful and regretful tone as he uses metaphor and diction to teach an important lesson about appreciating those around us and maximizing the time we have with them. Smith didn’t appreciate his apple tree until it was gone, and he uses vivid, active words to describe what his unappreciation did to the tree, like “skew the sap’s passage, blacken leaves, dry the bark heart.” Perhaps Smith went through a tragedy in his own life and only later realized that he left this person “unloved, untended,” which prompted him to write this piece. At the end of the poem, he focuses on the word “red,” which evokes a feeling of death and sadness.