Elm & Elderberry #3 : Three Suns of the Morning

30" x 15" x 1.5"

Acrylic on Canvas

PRELUDE

My Parents Were Never Big Drinkers

Anniversary or Hot Summer Day

My Dad Claimed, as if a Big Thinker

He’d Ferment Elderberries in Clay

 

All the While an Elm Tree Was Growing

Across the Street from Our Front Yard

With the Seeds, the Wind Was Blowing

Young Saplings Caught My Dad Off Guard

 

Before the Ugly Things Could Spread

Choking the Flowers, Grass, and Fruit

Pulling them Out, He Had to Stay Ahead

Of Every Sprouting Leaf and Root

 

VERSE

Elm Seeds Became Too Much

Started Letting Them Grow

He Cursed, He Mocked, He Flouted

 

Groomed Elms to a Hedge

Formed a Windbreaker

Old Man, Old Dirt, Trees Touted

 

Never Did I See

Elderberry Wine

No Make, No Drank, No Spouted

 

Still, Nasty Elm Seeds

Got the Best of Him

They Came, They Saw, They Sprouted