you stood tall and so strong
from green to red as my thong
raining down your brown capped nuts
gray rats chasing them just like a putz

Year after year
I lay in a bed of rope and cornflower cotton
my youngest son for mother's day had gotten
under your pointed lobed canopy
with a glass of strawberry wine, so happily

Year after year
the scratching of claws
the jay and robin applause
Downy woodpecker drills
such laugh and some thrills

Year after year
you shed your emerald coat
leaves dance in the air as they float
to the soft ground
covering it in a carpet of brown