Dendrology

by Kathryn Lorenzen

Limbs creak in cold morning air
and they hear the rush of water
You can look it up
What we don’t know of trees
could embarrass God herself

Some branches braid themselves into garlands
Some reach to heaven and poison their enemies
while others weep by the river
in poems of regret

My love of this life
rests in the arms of trees
Even bare and blemished
they hold me steady
What more could I ever need