Sunesis

If you have it, you get it.
You get this. It is to know
That by understanding this.

The typical cottonwood
Lives a human-like lifespan,
But with opportunity

To double or triple that.
This one’s gone yellow with fall
That some years goes dun with drought.

It will be close to solstice
Before all these leaves are down.
Bark ribbed as corduroy wale,

It will stay grey a while then.
A strong storm could bring it down.
Put two and two together.

It’s a life. It’s not clonal
Like its cousins the aspens,
Although its leaves also shake.

It’s a life. Not valuable
As you and yours are to you,
Not a story character,

A cause, a human terror
Specific as the bodies
Arranged in neat rows below,

In this small cemetery
Where it was planted for shade,
But you get it. And see this.