Treehouse
Something about roots,
bone-like, tenacious,
that grip the moving ground,
the branches like umbrellas
bent back and broken by the storm,
the leaves veined references
to hands, and the sound of the wind’s
wild working against the leaves…
The boy collected the branches
and stored them under his bed.
Something about the tree seeped
into his dreams, the trunk a hallway,
the branches outlined rooms,
and his family finding shelter
in the boughs, listening
to the sound language of leaves.
He did not see a garden, apples, or any fires.
Everyone huddled together to keep warm.
Margo Taft Stever’s collections include Cracked Piano (CavanKerry Press, 2019) shortlisted and finalist for the 2021 Eric Hoffer Awards; Ghost Moose, 2019; The Lunatic Ball, 2015; The Hudson Line; Frozen Spring, and Reading the Night Sky. Read more.
Margo Stever’s “Treehouse” was previously published in West Branch Literary Journal and in the chapbook Reading the Night Sky.