Trees speak among themselves
in various dialects. Their voices
vibrate far outside the realm
of human ears, but wood ants sense
the pulse in branches and bark.
Like people, they sometimes struggle
grasping accents from faraway places.
Giant kapok trees of the Amazon,
with sultry voices, can’t follow
the cold tongues of Canadian cedars.
Topics of discourse include the bliss
of photosynthesis, poetry of birds,
mathematics of stars. Every night
when the sun sets like a pink rose
over the Pacific, ancient redwoods
on the north coast of California
chant hymns of praise to the void
of Creation. Bonsai trees in Japan
listen with joy and amazement
as the sun rises over the ocean.
is a former U.S. Army soldier and middle/high school math teacher from Pueblo, Colorado. In 2010 he spontaneously began writing poetry, not knowing where the spark came from. He is retired now and temporarily living in South Korea. Recent and upcoming publications are with 3Elements Review, Atlanta Review, Blast Furnace, KYSO Flash, and SPANK the CARP.
