blood red maple

blood red maple
raging fire in my veins
burst forth from a wooden nervous system
burst forth from roots as old as
time

in the autumn of your life
warmed by the heat of a thousand suns
wise old man who has lived through so much
who has seen so much

emperors are born and die
under the shade of your wooden arms
battles are fought and empires crumble
in the impenetrable shadow of your mighty stalk
history is etched in your very skin
and your blood is the blood of a nation
proud and mysterious
it is the blood of the shogun
the samurai
it is so much the blood of the peasant

blood red maple
in this the autumn of our life
which was predicted in the first shoot of your might brow
and now smolders
in the raging fire of your bloody cannopy

you who have heard so much
the confession of murderers
the cooing of lovers
a mother’s tears as they fall in pond of coy

blood red maple
if you could speak on the eve
of our great demise
what would you say to a deaf man