Poem by RELEE: Tree

Tree

The news today. What
to say? I sit
with the Times and stare

at the gingko outside
the window.
It is dropping

its leaves. They are
golden as
they fall. The yard

is bright with leaves.
And in Italy:
the earthquake. "God

should not punish us like
this." Half
the village of Campa di

Campania gone, buried
in stone.
"You have to have

a good memory to
remember where
the streets were. The town

has been wiped off
the map."
What to do?

Morning doves are
down, among
the fallen leaves, looking

for seeds. "There aren't any
wounded here.
They're all dead."

The gingko is a living
fossil. Sole
survivor of a Chinese

family of trees.
A large
ornamental tree.