BILL CARROLL
'Old Math'

The arithmetic fingers of trees,
Twig by branch, leaf by leaf,
Count off an infinite series of oaks
Then cottonwood
Then black willow
Then silver maple
As I pass along the riverbank

A blue jay hidden
High in the dark ladders of green
Preferring speed and my non-presence
Counts - in scolding caws - by multiples of zero:
"10, 20, double moon
Now you be gone, man!"