Wednesday, August 24, 2011

A Civilization Of Leaves




Trees never go anywhere, at least not
in a direction anyone can see.








The civilization of leaves we call a tree
is shaped by branches and supported by a trunk
and nourished by a network of underground roots.

No civilization of leaves sends out space probes
to study us unless that’s what UFOs are.

No civilization of leaves sends astronauts
across the distance to adventure among us
unless bigfoot creatures are astronauts of sorts.

No civilization of leaves makes arts and crafts
unless lake monsters are a kind of wall hanging
or a hand-sewn shirt or a cabaret routine
or a feature film cranked out by an industry
somewhere within a civilization of leaves.

I photographed a tree that wasn’t picturesque
and I wondered if I could make something of it.

Or did I? Did a civilization of leaves
wonder what it could make of somebody like me?
























No comments:

Post a Comment