THE TREE CUTTERS
The trees silently protect themselves
With the very buds offered by habit—
The sky suddenly nearer, clouds gathering,
The thin trees wake with love from the stars.
At the same moment, one man wakes up
Looking for the blade as he does each morning—
He cuts
And a bird song shatters.
I can’t imagine how cool shadows suffer such vengeance,
And being pushed so miserably away.
I become the one stripped naked.
The rest look at one another, orphaned beneath the sky.
There he is, the tree cutter again.
I silently fear for the people next to me.
20/1/1988, Night
DO YOU REMEMBER STILL
Who pushed the boat of romance
Into the broken dock
Leaving me alone
To collect the fragments.
Even a roof the size of the sky
Couldn’t give enough warmth,
And a thousand rains
Wouldn’t wash away the memory.
Like a tree looking for leaves,
A fish looking for scales,
I call until hoarse,
Wind rising in the afternoon.
Open the moon to look,
Moon still reflects shadows.
Spread grass to look,
Grass is still warm.
Flower is like before,
Inconsolable—
How many levels our love has,
Do you remember still.
9/1989
paperback /ISBN 978-1-880684-69-6 / $15.95 / Ordering Information
