David's Trees

Wendy Morton

You show me the perfect drawing
of a broken tree branch
still blooming,
you drew last spring;
then the Sudek photographs of cherry trees.
Later, your collection: framed splinters
from a Zeppelin;
a piece of Winchester Cathedral,
from 1079;
an Inuit snow scraper;
your daughters' paintings;
a box filled with the small bones
of birds and blue stones.

Nearby, your luminous wife
plays Telleman on the Steinway,
wearing her best sadness and blue shoes.

Later, she'll decorate
a cake for your birthday,
play for you.
And for a while,
your world will be perfect:
a tree branch blooming in June,
white blossoms falling everywhere
like love.

Poem 1 | Poem 2 | Poem 3 | Poem 4 | Poem 5 | Poem 6

Wendy Morton's works copyright © to the author.