TREES by David Lawrence

The log that fell into the river went for a long swim into a hidden country where logs were the dominant culture and the trees wept as they saw their barky cousins floating home.

My wife loves trees
And cries
When a branch breaks on 72nd Street.

I don’t care whether trees come and go like soldiers in formation and lie down like one of the wounded in a futile war.

My wife likes plants too.
She puts an orchid on the windowsill.
I bought it for her for Mother’s Day.
She is not my mother.
I want her to be happy.

When we walk down Madison Avenue to the St. Regis Hotel for our Sunday tea sandwiches, I will pretend that I am a tree and hold her with my leafy hand like we are nature’s thrill.

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