THE GREAT
SHADE OF TIME
(poppies)
The elm tree arcs itself; no one else
has much to do with that. It's an even,
clear, and heavenly symmetry of form,
all that careful droop and arc. The song
sings the tree limbs, though
roughly, quite well.
-
You can sometimes find ten or so
from long ago still planted, in a row,
the way the old days and the people
of time used to do. A canopy of some
heart-felt being where clearer
people walked.
-
I remember thinking, in those days,
about Civil War soldiers, when they
were yet alive, and how they'd gather,
beneath these growing mantles, to
resurrect their days and times and
glories with tattered flags and
worn-out stories.
-
And men still do that today, without
such trees in canopy, but filled with
something anyway : the fierce and
licking flame of violence cloaked
in memory. Nay, in fact, they yet
demand such fealty, everywhere -
even without the canopy of
spreading trees.
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