The Branch Hangs On

The branch has been loose for years yet it manages to defy gravity. Amazing!

THE BRANCH HANGS ON
July 13, 2004

The wind touches the tree
with great fist-shaking force
that would normally move the world
in its wake
yet the branch hangs on--
And every day when I
open the drapes the first place
I look is at the top of
the tree and don't stop until I'm
sure that one loose
branch is still hanging on--
The leaves' rattling shapes
flutter in the breeze,
their blurring colors flank
the monochrome bole that never
shakes and yet
the branch hangs on--
I watch cars come and go
and noisy kids on bikes
and stray dogs wander to and fro
beneath that tree where
the branch hangs on--
dangling above crew-cuts, fenders,
and panting heads of smelly curs
as people peek from pain
and worry through ranks
of windows like fugitives
and still I watch at every front
and shift of scud and gale to see
if yet another morning has a
hold of that loose stick as that
refractory
branch perpetually hangs on--