I can’t bear to look at
trees
not any kind of trees, but
evergreens

there’s a skeletal
finality
to the way their
bark is breaking
while
somehow
growth
prevails

and it’s such a simple
thing,
getting through
heartbreak
  miles from home
  why does it always feel like
I’m miles from home?

but I make do,
somehow

I just can’t bear to look at
trees,
evergreens,
an entire ecosystem,
temperate rainforest,
aisles and aisles of
patchwork
Pine

So often, I go out to the
desert now
and push my foot into
the red dirt,
and every rock is the
hate of what is lost
and every trail is
a cold-blooded vine

I can’t bear to look at
trees,
evergreens,
douglas, spruce or
pine
I can’t bear to look at
trees

these woods don’t feel
like
   mine