The Trees of Lost Time


Vincent van Gogh The Poplars at Saint-Rémy

The Trees of Lost Time

“Learn from the
winter trees…”
—Carol Ann Duffy
“Unloving,” Rapture

I’ve learned—from winter trees
To kiss the leaves—a long goodbye
Seeing how they—hold their faces
Stricken by Fall—autumnal fingers
Turning to ice—beneath the skylight

Deciduous trees—so much like
Ghost ships shedding sails—
Tall poplars, leafy elms, great
Chestnut boulevards—weeping
Willows, cherry, orange, lime…

It used to depress me—making
Me dumbstruck as summer fell
Away—but then that’s when the
Cedars & firs bend in the moonlight
Welcoming the Pineapple Express

Scudding clouds—perpetual rain
My breastbone—throbbing like some
Turkey wishbone—deep inside me
Just above my Frankenstein heart
Stitched together—monsoon again!!!

Seagulls—high over the lake
Crows from—Dead Horse Canyon
Cormorants gannets—swallows
Down by the dock—swooping thru
The barn door—of my gone mind




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