By: Ruth Deming

She stood at attention watching the cars along Terwood Road
Each year she grew a little taller
better views
the snowman with the silly stick arms
the covered over swimming pool
awaiting its day

Tulip Tree took it all in
standing guard
Never complaining,
she laughed when the squirrels built their many-chambered nests
in her topmost branches

She had but one wish she kept to herself.
If only I had feet, so I could stroll across the road and see how people and animals move about.
My pretty leaves, like hair, would wave about as this giantess moves with the grace of a flower.

Come a stormy day, she got her wish
She laughed, she cried, she howled
Titanic winds tore at her skirt
“I’m falling, I’m falling,” she cried,
and in those moments of agony
as her feet uprooted from mother earth
she witnessed the world,
a child taking its first steps,
and fell with a thump
in the middle of the street.
Dead, but beautiful still.