A Tree is an Example

...a tree is an example of the fourth dimension in nature ...

a diagram of the familiar which we are as yet unable to read.

– Ouspensky

A stone is a window opening into itself

extravagant with atoms and dark matter.

A glove by the side of the tracks says:

help forthcoming. Ladder leaning in air?

symbol for lovers as yet undone. Birdsong

a link to a kiss, to a city, a single black sock.

The ocean is a machine for viewing time,

a way of recalling a scorned lover

deep disappointment spreading tidal

under the skin, brow to shoulder, spine

to child, stray glances, smashed windshield.

The fragrance of a lover’s hair

a concordance of shadow, city, and tear

a network of radio, kite string, longing

a diagram of violence as it travels from

battalion to grandson, milkweed seed

to cease fire, motionless in

oceans of air.

A tree is a diagram of possible outcomes, swerves and

evasions, mapping paths we’ll never see,

a way to scry leave-taking maybe, divine

vanishing, laughter, collision,

watch stillness branch into hours, years,

imagine how slowness would taste on our tongues.

Originally from Long Island, Christopher Volpe is an artist, writer, and teacher working and living in New Hampshire. His paintings are represented by galleries regionally and by Georges Berges Gallery in New York City. He writes regularly about art and artists online and off.