Bloom

xxxix • birch tree (blatherskite)

blath•er•skite  ("blath -er-skahyt")

a person who talks at great length without making much sense

❁

she, the birch tree

flakey integument

curled like her diary's pages,

pale as the milky skin

which she hides from daylight

along with moons and other secrets–

heart-shaped incisions

made by careless lovers

attempting to immortalize

their names

tall and slim

with emaciated limbs.

leaves tinted 

with corroded Liberty

shroud her blemishes 

with shades of shame,

but they're visible all the same–

forehead smudges

remaining from Ash Wednesday,

stains from periods and 

trampled cherries.

anxious woodpeckers

bang on the door to her sanity;

gluttonous undergrowth

chokes her gnarled roots.

in spite of everything,

she persists.

from on high

she's recognized

as an emerald in earth's crown,

known for making

contributions to the canopy

and magnanimous

donations to humanity;

she provides protection to species

who torment and take from her,

exhales oxygen into the lungs

of those who maim her

(deforestation crusaders).

she's a paragon of selflessness,

a testament to survival,

the protagonist in Nature's bible.

she's the image that I see in the mirror

but fail to accept as my own.