99poems/chinaberry

The chinaberry
trees are in bloom.
I miss the one
at the house where
we used to live.
Chopped off at its
core, one trunk
running parallel
to the ground,
so that it made
a sort of bench.
He lay in it
that day
we were deciding
whether to move
in – and looking
at him there,
I knew, of course,
we would.
A few days later
the tree
was in bloom.
I had never
seen one before,
but they were
all over town.
For years we
did not know
what kind of
tree it was.
Some speculated
a type of pepper.
I forget now
the other guesses.
Finally, the house
sold and the new
landlord, a previous
owner, told me
the name of the tree.
That first spring
when we moved in,
the day after
we married,
its fragile pink
blossoms littered
the ground.
And in a matter
of days the blooms
were gone.

5/26/99