A Thursday poem

April 18th

Tree

Our tree was removed years ago,

just the stump remains,

but every time I pass it I stop and smile,

remember the kisses,

experimental, then more probing,

the longing played out under its canopy.

We’d seen it through a winter and a spring

before our desire moved into a house of its own

and we no longer needed its privacy

in the quiet end of the lane.

But when we visited my folks we’d stop and say hello tree,

recall those early days of new love and hold hands again.

And now the tree has gone the memories remain –

we just shut our eyes and there it is,

our tree in all its greenery wrapping love around us.