Downtree

DownTree

Sure it's big
this tree,
but not the biggest in town.
Tall, yes, with many spreading branches
greenleaf-laden and full of nuts,
tasty prizes one would not suspect
on seeing only the plain-looking trunk.
But these bushy branches are growing downward
aiming at the earth.
This bothers us. Branches should reach upwards, not down.
We prune them back as they reach
our tin roof,
our wooden porch,
graze our heads at the front steps.
The tree does not take note,
continues stubbornly pointing its branches towards
the ground.
Twenty feet up a jagged stumplet protrudes,
recalling a former branch.
Once grand, pecan-laden, gloriously leafed,
it was struck by lightning many years ago.
The following year the tree bore no pecans.
Then, with each passing year they slowly
returned, very small at first,
enlarging as years passed.
And with each passing year, branches pointed more
noticeably downward.
One branch is now inches from touching the ground.
We will prune it back.
What a pain, this tree.

Frank Brown, 1987