#203 Kevin Brophy 'What waits inside'

#203 ‘What waits inside’

The tree resists speaking of itself or moving aside

as it fills itself with birds that get their beaks

into every new bud, new leaf, every twitch

and every insect and parasite

on the tree’s perfectly wooden self

until finally the tree regrets its greed for birds 

and begins to drop (and drop) its leaves around itself

like a man emptying his bags on a train station

in a country town where one hotel is full

and the other a known provocation to suicide

so the leaves keep falling

because they have nowhere else to go

and the tree (the tree) points upwards

as if to show those birds it’s time to go

the tree like some psychologist of the weather

predicts the birds will know what’s best to do

and how to leave their tree to its bark and insects

to its new and hopeful leaves already tucked within

that tree with their eyes closed, waiting (waiting)