Our Tree

Six years ago I’d walk outside to a tree
Just barely tall enough to ride a rollercoaster
I greeted him every morning
And he back to me

On Saturday, my mum would water him
Her tattered straw hat deteriorating in the wind
As the days went by he didn’t seem to be growing
But the small increments were blinded by frequency

Soon he was taller than me
We’d relax in his shade
The cat scratching at his trunk
The dog chewing a cardboard box

Three years later he was taller than the house
Wider than my two siblings and I combined
And grew a pineapple-shaped ring at his crown
Which soon became home to families of sparrows

They loved the tree and so did we
They played and grew under his fronds
Just as we did
A few feet below

On Sunday morning my mum would cook eggs
And with a new straw hat she’d water the plants
As we sat and ate under the symphony of sparrows
Talking about how much better tangerine juice is than orange

That next year I went off to college
I said goodbye to my mum
I said goodbye to the birds
And I said goodbye to the tree

My new home didn’t have a straw hat
Didn’t have a hyper dog or a cocky cat
And sure, it had birds
But they didn’t sing the song of our tree

I returned from college chubbier than when I left
The tree laughed and I did too
It seemed as I got larger so did he
And it was nice feeling known

One Sunday breakfast
The tangerine juice turned sour
The cardboard box was left untouched
And the birds sang out of key

The tree’s arms had begun to brown and wilt
And with each new day a new degree down
We tried method after method to cure him
But nothing seemed to work

Our tree
Our friend
Our guardian
Diseased
Had begun to die

He said there was no use in crying
All things must die and so must I
And yes he was young
But this was always his fate

An arborist came and we said goodbye
He smiled like he always did
And shortly after he was cut down
Returned to the earth

The birds flew confused looking for their home
The song of panic replaced the song of joy
The cat’s nails grew so he used the couch
And the view outside felt empty without him

But that next week
On Sunday morning
The tangerine juice turned sweet again
And I smiled
Knowing he was
Too