Imperfect Tree

Imperfect Tree
There is a large silver maple in our front yard ...
It is not a perfect tree ...
It does not burn bright like a sugar maple in September ...
Nor the radiant leaves of the scarlet maple ...
It seems suburban with its silver skin and delicate leaves ...
It grows so fast its trunk has split with stretchmarks ...
So thirsty the rest of the lawn is dry ...
In the fall it drops its undistinguished yellow leaves by the ton ...
It is not a perfect tree ...
But it is a patient presence, and it cools the house ...
It shields us from the glare of the sun ...
Cardinals and blue jays convene there for their business ...
And it never, ever, ever, ever leaves ...

Our neighbor is cutting down his smaller maple ...
It blocked sunlight from his home, which is much driven past, for its luminous openness ...
Which is admittedly not so apparent when a tree is blocking the view ...
But he's tired of the tree's mediocrity ...
So out comes the chainsaw, and down goes the tree, and into the house it goes, one armload at a time ...
I wonder if it feels like an honor ...
After all those years in the cold and the rain ...
Those thankless, dripping, freezing years of service ...
To be invited in by the fire?

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• tree
• autumn
• leaves
• colors
• maple
• silver maple