Video poem: Our family Tree
The gnarled tree stood at the side of our house,
A sad old man with hands held out
Frog-like frozen through half leap
With head bare-and-bowed as if asleep
He greeted our family when they moved in
War children in awe of his terrible grin
Holding a child in each of his arms
Keeping the whole and out of harm
Sadder he looked when I was young
Leafless limbs my uncle shunned
Branches like fingers brushed as I passed
My shoulder just escaping his needy grasp
His deep roots exposed at their very top
Expect when the leaves of other trees dropped
These roots always made the walkway rise
Tripping those who did not use our eyes
A rough sea of gray slate standing on end
Causing us to stagger like drunken men
My uncle forgetting his years in its arms
Plotted its doom as he raised the alarm
Not danger of slates was my uncle’s complaint
But rather the roots digging through cellar paint
Delving to the basement to knock the house down
If a better answer could not be found
Chop went the ax hundreds of times
Shedding wood chips from the tree’s hollow rind
Down came the tree to my uncle’s delight
But the roots still grew almost every night.