Tree Dreaming
She wishes she were a tree.
Plant an acorn, it grows roots.
A second marriage. A second chance
transplants her to the southwest.
Gold sun burns
a clear bluebonnet sky.
Hard glare, poison,
the darkest-tint, sunglass medicine.
Clap, clap, clap, clap
Deep in the heart of Texas
Where a scorpion hidden in a baby shoe
raises its tail like a white flag.
Shake the shoe outside, both win.
A bobcat in a tree tenses to leap,
the horse smells danger, veers.
Prairie roses grow huge as jack rabbits.
Canna blooms erupt in vibrant rock and mineral colors.
Urban cowboys hike up a peak
to a grand four state overlook, TreeDreaming2
heat irons the hair under Stetsons.
The sage in bloom is like perfume
Girls read adventure stories and play
lead action parts without a stunt man.
Popular girls and geeks join the same club,
laugh, sing and work as sisters.
Where women don’t seek a princess-bride-marriage for solace.
Friends don’t evaporate in half-light like dew.
A live-oak planted in the front yard grows tall.
In a tree dream,
she moves in, stays put.
Her marriage grows leafy.
The stars at night are big and bright
bare feet
in wet grass
chasing fireflies
(Intertext: June Hershey’s lyrics: Deep in the Heart of Texas, music by Dan Swander, 1942)
https://spillwords.com/tree-dreaming/
Date Published: February 19. 2022