Raymond Luczak, USA
My friend walks me around his ten acres,
pointing out the pine saplings that have died
and the spruce fledglings that should survive.
Each spring he checks the wood stakes marking
the ones he’d planted the year before.
Each stake is a just-in-case tombstone.
He tells me how tall and how long each tree will grow,
and shows me the stump of a red pine,
knocked over from driving off the U.S. 45.
I survey each tall tree and ask him how much
a tree could be worth in an accident. The taller a tree,
the higher his estimates rise into thousands.
He notices a few saplings he’d accidentally planted
just over his property line. I glance around and ask
if neighbors would chop them down. “Not yet.” He shrugs.
These trees, when tall and strong, will defend his honor.
They will bear shining armors of green and bark in battle.
It will take generations to root them out completely.
Raymond Luczak is author and editor of 22 books, including Flannelwood (Red Hen Press) and Lovejets: Queer Male Poets on 200 Years of Walt Whitman (Squares & Rebels). A ten-time Pushcart Prize nominee, he lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and online at raymondluczak.com.