Story of a Tree
what they do is call this a tree-lined community and plant leafy trees between the street and the sidewalk then brick around the trunk with pretty red clay bricks. i saw a man pulling up those bricks this morning, digging roots out of the dirt cause that tree didn't want to be contained. but that tree was no match to a machete and a crowbar. those red bricks will be neatly nestled back atop that tree's roots by quitting time tonight. the roots will suffocate in a garbage bag in a landfill, and one day that landfill will be covered in grass. and another day those roots will tear through that plastic bag and begin to stretch after a very long nap. a tree will sprout atop a green hill and some kid will swear on its existence. she'll make the climb only to find herself looking across ghetto roofs cause only poor people live near landfills. one day she'll again look up and see that tree. it's winter and she sees the shadow cast by branches in full summer bloom - a tree at the height of being alive. that tree begins to haunt her dreams. it tells her the story of a tree-line community with leafy trees planted between the street and the sidewalk with pretty red clay bricks around the trunks.
November 9, 2007