BREATHLESS

Did you know Mimosas

are sentient trees?

If you take a torch and bring

it near the leaves, they curl up

and withdraw in shock and fear.

Next time you come near,

even without your flame, they

remember what you did,

and pull away again

to shame your evil heart.

Albizia Julibrissin are a favorite

of mine, and our history is long.

I was a tiny Jack, just six years old,

who saw those lofty limbs and

dreamed of giants in the air,

so I climbed as high as the limbs

allowed and stole a pink powder puff,

jumped to a limb,

missed,

fell,

bellyflopped,

and died.

Not for the last time,

but it was my first.

Over the years, there were many more

of those elegant beauties.

Mama had two in her front yard,

surrounded by flowers,

but I spent many hours alone

in the one out back. I made friends

with with myriad songbirds,

and planned my treks in the

woods and along the creek

where my cousin called the

minnows “inferior fish,”

and we cut Muscadine

vines to swing on in

our Tarzan youth.

When I was older,

I bought a house in some woods,

with a small pond beside.

The Poplars, Oaks, Hickories, and

Persimmons were fine and lush

in the humid, Tennessee air; two

wild Dogwoods bloomed at the edge

of the yard, but I missed my oldest

friend.

There were whole copse'

of Mimosa along the

curvy country roads, so I took

my shovel, found a pencil-thin

sapling, and dug it up to put

at the top of the bank by the water.

It grew to thirty feet and the canopy

it made was a wide umbrella

to shade the driveway, and,

as a kind of homage, spread

saplings all over the yard.

Pink powder puffs carpeted the canopy

it made. When we would sit under

the peaches across the way, we watched

a million butterflies feast like a

pandemonium of fairies, to make

us lose our breath.

Reviews

[W. Barrett Munn]

Really a nice presentation, Vol. I liked the flow and rhytm your captured, or constructed is a better word choice.

Winston

[Kelly Scheppers]

What a wonderful litany of nostalgia you have shared, Vol. Makes my heart swell with memories of my own. I particularly loved your nod to nature and the variety of trees. There is no doubt you have a photographic mind and a poetic soul! Much enjoyed!

[Ken Simm.]

Such a beautful tribute to nature, to memory and to your skill in writng your thoughts. Excellent and poigniantly beautiful.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

wow, this leaves me breathless...no pun intended.
Reminds me of climbing trees when I was younger, heights didn't bother me as much then.
we had rows of elms on our block that made a beautiful canopy---
kept the street in shade.
and I remember one particular maple in the yard at the Gutterson's in Vermont...
I loved that tree and have a pic of my mother standing in front of it in autumn of 1957.
this poem created some nice nostalgic memories for me.
thank you,
j.