Rocks ripple my river reflection
as amber and caramel leaves spiral
from sleeping oaks
landing atop water as lily pads
and clothing my mirror image.
I envy the resting trees,
tucked in for the winter.

Trees in the yard grow alongside me.
I’ve scaled their trunks
And swung from their branches.
Fallen through their leaves,
Scraping my arms and knees on the way down.

I grow a little older,
The trees a little taller.
One oak is getting too big,
It grows in the driveway
And needs to be cut down.
One less tree.

Another gets removed to make way for a pool.
The tree lasted for decades before my parents moved there,
The pool lasted a summer.
A summer of splashing in constantly cold water.
A circular pool acting as police tape for this ****** scene.
One less tree.

One in the front yard
Poses a threat to the house’s foundation.
Its trunk is cut down,
And it’s stump ripped out of the ground.
I grew up when I ran out of branches to climb.
One less tree.

The last tree gets struck by lightning.
It falls over and hits the garage.
It’s body seared, and it’s sap oozes like blood
A wood chipper comes and disposes of it’s remains.
A dead patch of grass, like a chalk outline of its corpse.
One less tree.

Two trees remain.
One is used to hold the dog’s leash while she roams outside.
The other provides shelter
For the squirrels and birds who were evicted.
I wonder,
Which one will go next?

I wonder
How to plan trees.
Sow and plant seeds.

How we could listen
Instead of talk.

How i could show
A bean, a beanstalk.
How we might one day grow
From raindrops to mighty oaks.

Is it always you and me?
Asks an acorn of a tree.

Is it just you and I
Going someplace
Side by side?

It takes roots to rise,
And courage to thrive.

So let the wind,
A breath, a sigh,
Sweep you up.


The world is much brighter
If you fall far from my side.

“Let’s burn oaks!” my mother said
Then she lit a tiny match
Still can’t fit it in my head
So much fire made from scratch
She said: “Oaks! Let’s burn them all!”
Then she drank a glass of wine
‘Twas a sunny day in fall
Fire started, I was nine

We have stood ship backed
Against the wind, and the rain
Our roots delve deep in the Devon soil.
Moss, and bird song protect us
We watch, we breath as the sun turns.
Our branches hold a thousand lives
Earthbound we know our songs.
Spinning endlessly under the ancient stars