The tree that should have been.
There is an emptiness
where it doesn’t grow.
A seed, with some sun and rain
might grow there, unattended.
Yes, I will do that.
Nudge a seed there
and promise to return.
But there will be an emptiness
when I do,
and someone might say,
there should be a poet here
for this tree.
So beautiful where it is,
standing by itself,
dawn and dusk on every side.
Straight as a candle.
A flame in autumn.
Scarlet as the sun setting.
Scarlet as the sunrise.
That will be enough for me,
another poem for earth.
The book The House of the World has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and is now available on Amazon.