some trees

spotted gum
tall classy lady
cradling a listing turpentine

(shaggy old top-heavy
barrel-chested nuisance)
she props him

takes the strain
holds her own line almost true
that’s what you get

when you get
married in a windstorm
but the wind always changes

strands you in strange attitudes
let him slide girl
next big storm

he’ll take you both down
and if the weather holds
those bastards can live

five hundred years
drop him
like a rotten branch

Melinda Smith