Day 276 –Sunday, February 12, 2017

Naked Trees

I love naked trees
I’ve always loved naked trees
In latter years I’ve zeroed in,
On their tantalizing fall striptease
A favorite annual rite of passage;
Beginning of “tree truth”

Suddenly they’re all even,
Transparent,
Offering better glimpses,
Into and through themselves
Like anything forced,
To do copious amounts of shedding

I’ve shed tons
That’s what you do after a divorce,
Or move, or job change, or major health disaster,
Death in the family, or
All of them sequentially,
Simultaneously

Then, you’re naked;
Spent,
Like a tree in winter
Giving in –finally

And well, you stop fucking caring
What everyone else thinks
Doffing your pretenses,
Shedding that protective layer of leaves
Nude, with the opportunity of a lifetime

Sooner than later, everyone gets visible
Smooth and graceful transitions,
Intricate interiors, broken limbs,
Crooked connections, rotten cores,
Bits of things we cannot or will not release…

But one must remember, a fall,
Cannot, should not and will not,
Stop your spring growth

© Maureen (Mo) O’Brien
C U Tomorrow,
-Mo