Thirty-Eight Rings
last night’s lightning split the sycamore.
how can I pledge myself
to you when I don’t know
what I am? you can see
where the wood was scorched.
you can see where it wasn’t.
I know death is impossible,
but it feels real when it happens
to anyone other than me.
and when it does happen to me
I imagine my daughters
will feel much as I do
looking now at this tree.
I rev my chainsaw and cut
what’s left into pieces
small enough to carry away.
*
John Arthur is a writer and musician from New Jersey. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Rattle, DIAGRAM, Failbetter, trampset, ONE ART, and elsewhere. He has been nominated for Best of the Net.
