you can read it in its rings

.

the  tree  went  through a

year  of     fat  and  happy      laying  down  the

cellulose  a year of    sucking  up  the  radiance   waving

sun-drunk branches   high ….above its head  a year of sleek and silk

of lush… and plundering  of  shadows rising   a year of hard… cold rain

a   year …of   screw..   this     of    oh …yeah     tell     it  to .. your    mama

of… no more  no …more  I    cannot …do  this   anymore    of  take.. me

hurricane     take  .me ..fire     and    another..   year…  of      ringing

round  any..  way     gnawed     by  deer      burrowing..   badgers

beetles.. beetling ..  another   year   another..  year .. another

year  oh  kingdom of  mites and  mushrooms   come

 another  year   forgiveness  of  fungi  come

insects  mold  come   be  done

____

Mary Buchinger is the author of four collections of poetry: Navigating the Reach (forthcoming), e i n f ü h l u n g/in feeling (2018), Aerialist (2015) and Roomful of Sparrows (2008). She is president of the New England Poetry Club and Professor of English and communication studies at MCPHS University in Boston. Her work has appeared in AGNI, Diagram, Gargoyle, Nimrod, PANK, Salamander, SLICE Magazine, The Massachusetts Review, and elsewhere; her website is www.MaryBuchinger.com.