How's one to see
rightly that tree,
that flat illusion
and deep confusion
of branch, twig, splinter
stripped bare for winter,
standing black, bold
in winter's cold
and gray sky's gloom
outside my room?
Thinking I'll prove
it real, I move
my head south, north,
to bring it forth
and so, reveal
its depth, its feel.
Men rearrange
their thoughts thus. Strange
how intricately
it moves . . . like me
—me more than any—
beneath the Many
it is the One,
the skeleton—
its trunk, its stark
and mottled bark
raccoons and wind
have ripped and skinned
and left to die . . .
But it's not I
who can define
its shape, or mine.

After this frost
all will be lost
in a strange scene
of savage green
when it receives
its destined leaves
that charm the eyes
as the ears lies
that poets tell.
All will be well:
for we shall see
in greenery
in sun, in gale
its face, its veil,
drape upon drape;
its truest shape.