Although the morning air nipped with a chilly touch
I was drawn to the scenes around,
the whirring noises, the crack of timber,
tremors of the ground.
Earlier, lightning bared the gum tree's thick bark
insects horded, awaiting a feast of decay,
branches soon hung in skeletal reaching,
...unclothed...and gray.
The tree once basked in colorful splendor
leaves a green, fiery red,
rust, then an ebony hue,
altering, amending, as seasonal changes came due.
Squirrels played tag circling its trunk
dogs sprawled peacefully sleeping,
all heartfelt memories
...now only for safekeeping.
By evening, my lofty friend looms hauntingly stark
a mighty whomp...sawdust yellows the grass,
rosin wafts a spicy scent,
...and an emptiness settles with the dark.
Elizabeth Towles
September 2016
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I have a sweetgum like that I transplanted from a single leaf to its current location where its mighty growth and towering branches have caused havoc to my sidewalk and danger to my garage. Yet, I have postponed its demise and instead, taken down the diseased and sparsely branched original tract home tree that occupied the center of my small front yard. That tree was an eyesore for the last 10 years or so. The only thing I regret in its loss is the gaping hole left between the cypress and the sweetgum, like a missing tooth in a smile.
Ron