When I told the neighbor
on her porch next door
that the silk tree - Albizia julibrissin -
in our front yard
about to be cut down
was dying across their range
around the world
she replied,
"Humans are next."
part- II
"Tolerant of crowded dusty cities and smoky factory
districts, often even growing out of cracks in concrete."
The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees,
Eastern Region, Knopf, 1987
"I hate that tree," meaning the ailanthus
at her curb, the poor peoples' tree,
the tree of heaven,
the Tree Grows in Brooklyn tree
planted by no one but
growing everywhere.
She ignores all my blandishments.
Food all winter for: sparrows, blue jays, finches,
cardinals, mourning doves, wrens, chickadees and squirrels
foraging diligently in the ivy twined around
the tree's double trunks and the snow deep on the ground.
Sustenance all spring and summer, too,
from its musty yellow bloom
gone to seed.
This tree of life the focus of her enmity.
A green carnival in any season for me,
a woman sitting in a reclining chair on a heating pad my daily bread
unable to go anywhere
except as a witness
to this feast on disturbed earth.