Elm & Elderberry #5: Blue Moon Through the Trees

16" x 12" 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