Windblower

I liked life better under my favorite tree
where my Ponderosa pine branch
swayed in the vanilla breeze
my cocker lab dog snuggled in the needles
while the birds nested overhead
and the ants marched the route where the bark went bald

I liked the vivid blue sky
framed in green fireworks
liked the firmness of the puzzle piece bark in my back
how it blushed when plucked from the trunk
how it sang of butterscotch

I liked the whistling of the thin air
between slender long
tree teeth

I trusted my tree to share her
secrets with me
as she cradled my hours
.
.
I visit her when I find myself in her neighborhood
though someone else claims her company now
I hope she doesn’t get lonely
I wonder if she might miss me
I wonder how many have blossomed under her branches

just the one
with her dog
and her sky

no one
to fight
or love
or miss
or mourn

how the view of the sky
between the branches came
to frame my world

Spend long enough with a tree
and the thoughts slow down
to tree speed
and the pace of the sap
sets the meter for the heart

and if one gets really quiet
and still
one can start to see how the
girl and the tree
just might be extensions
of the same life