the bare arms of trees by John Tagliabue

Sometimes when I see the bare arms of trees in the evening

I think of men who have died without love,

Of desolation and space between branch and branch,

I think of immoveable whiteness and lean coldness and fear

And the terrible longing between people stretched apart as these 

branches

And the cold space in between.

I think of the vastness and courage between this step and that step

Of the yearning and fear of the meeting, of the terrible desire 

held apart.

I think of the ocean of longing that moves between land and land

And between people, the space and ocean.

The bare arms of the trees are immovable, without the play of leaves, without the sound of wind;

I think of the unseen love and the unknown thoughts that exist 

between tree and tree

As I pass these things in the evening, as I walk.