ARBORESCENT I

We are

Arborescent—

What goes

Unseen

Is at the very

Root of ourselves.

Distance can

Distort our deepest

Sense

Of who

We are,

Leave us

Warped

& wasted

As winter’s

Wind. We will

Not walk

From what

We’ve borne.

We would

Keep it

For a while,

Sit silent &

Swinging on its branches

Like a child

Refusing to come

Home. We would

Keep,

We would

Weep,

Knowing how

We would

Again

Give up

Our world

For this one.