print previewback LESLEY WHEELER
Pushing toward the Canopy
The neighbor turns away when I wave.
A lichened oak branch broke three stories up;
summer-dark leaves shake in the rain.
I don’t know what I’m doing again.
The dangling branch tells three old stories:
Sapwood channeled my desire. I’m high
and don’t know what I’m doing, again.
Ambition transformed into heartwood.
My sapwood rose and became me while
the ground mulled over water, water.
Any hardening heart could change its vote.
Rain, unwanted, runnels the dirt.
Too much water can weigh you down
till your summer-dark leaves shake with strain.
What do I want, if not dirt and rain,
and friends who turn to me and wave? 