A Plain Watch

An unremarkable tree
Tied to a stake against wind
Bends in the wind as you watch.

Nothing much threatens it now,
So you don’t expect your watch
Will catch any strange event.

The tree’s been growing there years,
And its priors would suggest
It could last ten, twelve decades.

You can watch, but you won’t be
The measure of this tree. Young,
You knew one line of a poem

Suggesting trees were lovely,
Lovelier than poems, at least.