Sunday, May 25, 2014

Goodbye, Leaning Firetree, Goodbye

Dr Abe V Rotor
Firetree (Delonix regia) in bloom leaning precariously 
45 degrees towards Regalado Ave., Fairview, QC 2010 
An arch and a crown you make
for all passersby
to greet and honor them; 

your trunk and limbs reach out 
in friendly handshake
and embrace;
 
you send confetti year round,
green in monsoon,
fire red in summer; 
you comfort the tired and weary
under your shade;

you filter the air of gas and dust,
heat and sound;
mark the passing of seasons,
the turn of the clock;
you are home and inn of creatures:

birds and their young,
fern and moss clinging,
to bees and butterflies;
you stir imagination into the arts,
in song and poetry;
 
rise up and point to heaven
to enliven the spirit;
with arms outstretched for so long,
you have been calling, pleading,

for a passerby to stop and to look up. ~
NOTE: The last time I passed by the tree it was no longer there. On its stump cut by a chainsaw sat a road worker resting in the noon sun, his gaze expressionless and far.




No comments:

Post a Comment