Silver Maple

Psalm 92: "They that are planted in the house of the LORD shall bear fruit even in old age."

Old men should get to know a tree.
It may be time, you know,
before the lime is thrown
and body turns to loam in which roots claw.
Such is the law.

In my case, it would be
the silver maple arching over me
from my old neighbor’s place.
I labor each November to save face,
to rake each leaf that drops,
one by a thousand, from its gnarly arms.
The tickling slomo …