The Tree

Heavy with unslumbered sleep

You stretch your hand across acres of emptiness.
Shapes of leaves and branches are
Silhouetted on the bedroom wall.
Like shadow-play puppets they dance,
Miming the farce, etched on the silver screen of your mind.
This moon, this same moon, shines through other windows Where lovers lie sweetly spent.

You leave your bed to stand at the open window.
Insects zing and cling to its mesh enclosure.
The hot night air, laden with the tang of eucalyptus, Coats your naked body in a silken film, beaded with sweat.
Thunder threatens. They are locked together.
You are alone with your tree.
You feel its branches wrap around protectively.

Lightning crackles on the horizon throwing everything into relief.
A split second all the time it takes for a secret touch, a glancing smile.
Raindrops patter through the canopy of leaves.
A roll of heavenly percussion the man in the moon falling downstairs He used to tell your children when they were small.
In your imagination he stirs, gathers the quilt about him And nestles against the other's firm young back.

You stand resolutely at your window
Preparing for another onslaught. Fury
Unleashed by the storm echoes passions
Roused by barbed words of treachery.
Nipple-tightening swirls of wind
Force their way through wire screens:
Rain pours through the leaves.

A wrenching, tearing crash the tree is mortally wounded.
Pulling a gown to cover your nakedness
You run, stumbling downstairs. Outside,
Debris, pieces of tree, litter the ground.
You, who so need to be comforted,
Run to clasp its streaming trunk
Tears rain sapa intermingle.

A limb torn from its side hangs
Tethered by strips of tree flesh.
Bark, smooth as skin, dangles in uneven lengths.
You envy the tree this outward proof of its pain.
Thunder rolls far away to the east. No wind now, no rain.
The rising sun forces clouds to part,
Burning them taut with anger and with grief.

He rouses, parts the lips of his new love with kisses And covers her with his passion.
You and the tree stand dripping, weeping, Healing tears of salt and gum, already forming scars

Joyess