Saving A Buck

 

Every year we win a battle with losses

to the monarchy of the Midwest Energy Company.

When I do not give permission to remove the locust tree

the urban forester directs his crew to slice a “V”

preventing the crown from encroaching the power line.

 

I hire a retired person to prune the tree

who worked on the John Deere assembly line

and needs something to do.

I ask him to remove a branch touching the roof

and to keep the crown away from the line

yet give it a natural look.

 

He chops the tree

like an executioner chops off a head

while the victim twists and raises her neck

at the impact of the dropping ax.

 

The butcher chainsaws

the secondary branches 

and the branches off the trunk

away from their origins

sometimes straight

and sometimes the blade slivered.

 

The tree looks like amputees

with arms cut off below the elbow

strapped on splints hoisted in the air.

The wounds above the nodes

welcome insects and fungi

to eat and live in the stubs

while unstable sprouts sit on top.

A gust of wind sails the leaves,   

catches then rips decayed limbs.

 

The impact yields to the monarchy.  
                                             —Sal Marici
Previously published Buffalo Carp Vol.6

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