Trees

We get lost, in the study of trees 

      or deeply admire them

              for their form and substance.

But, to a bird flying through a grove,

       the solid branches define and frame

               the beloved open spaces 

they traverse and inhabit.

How joyful to see 

        that a tree is a gesture of play,

               made by a field of energy 

extending into form and substance,

        and that the tree’s branches,

                 and that the spaces defined by them,

are all one thing; 

         like a tree-idea-bubble with a membrane 

                 which allows birds to pass through, 

                         along with our awed awareness

of its existence.