keith2

Keith Oliver

Symmetrical Trees

Think and Dream

Symmetrical Trees

To me, some street
trees are like toffee apples,
on sticks very tall. Each one devoid of all interest,
for they have no character; symmetrical apples of toffee,
so un-enlivening; lining the street-scapes sparse dull despair
with appeal unappealing. Uninspiring, shapely as tennis balls.
Like cricket balls idle, without a bowler to enliven them.
Fascinating as watching ice blocks melt,
or water emptying from sinks,
all day every day!
Thick stick
upright
trunks
hold up
the top.
Upright
trunks
support
canopies
from roots
hid down deep
in subterranean depths;
where ants have nests, and ribbon earthworms writhe and wriggle.

Think and Dream

Stop,
and think,
think about it,
the wonder of it is,
not why ev’rything’s as it is,
but just why there is anything at all;
why does there have to be something,
what’s wrong with nothingness,
it could be so,
if so,
then,
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Stop,
and dream,
of a new world,
of this old world reversed,
where light is dark and pink is blue,
where the protons orbit the electrons,
the sun does not shine forth its light,
the whole world is lifeless,
then we could not
think, or
dream.
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