Author Information
The Tree
Folder:
Unpublished pieces
The tree is growing
wanting to be with fruit.
The street slides by it,
children run on its cement.
The children admire
the tree.
They want to own it.
They circle it and chant
torches of hymns they have
composed themselves.
They want to recreate it.
Reshape and mould it
into the type of tree
they can fabricate
anyway they want.
They hope to strip
it of its bark and
nail new shingles
on its body.
The tree will be reborn.
It will not wait for its
fruit to form.
Instead, it will bear
the fruit it is told
to grow.
It will be swallowed
by a fence.
Grass will be cut
around it.
It will fit in.
It will conform.
The tree is growing
afraid to be with fruit.
