literature

To Climb a Tree

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IntelligentZombie's avatar
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Literature Text

When we were young
you asked me
to climb a tree for you
"Be brave!" you said,
and climb that tree
to get a better view.

I climbed the tree,
as I was asked
and made it almost to the top
I clung to my branch and found myself
scared witless and stuck halfway
I couldn't go up, I couldn't go down
but you told me not to stop.

"Go on!" you cried
"Up to the top! To find a better view!"
and I did as you asked
because even then
I was quite in love with you.

When we were older
you asked me
to pack my bags and meet you
in the park at night and greet you
with a kiss and a ticket for the train.

"We'll off and find a better life!"
you said, and I believed you
though I remembered the day
the firemen came
to get me down from the tree
"Why'd you go up all the way up there?"
they asked, and I answered only, "The view".

I remembered my scratched hands
and how ashamed I felt
at getting stuck in the tree
like a baby, or worse, a coward
and I wondered then,
at the station, as in the tree
as the train chugged in and came
to kidnap you and me,
at the wisdom of my love for you
but then I shrugged
and went along
with whatever you'd planned for me.

If these old bones
could climb the tree
in our backyard, that grows
so very tall!
then I would climb that tree;
and I'd sit up at the top.

The firemen would come again
and say, "Please sir, come down!"
but I would say, "She's not down there,
she's up here! So why be in the ground?"
My last poem of 2012. Everyone seems to be going out with something as their "last" thingy of the year, so here you are.

I was thinking a lot about the movies Up and Moonrise Kingdom while I wrote it. :la:

Query: Should I change part of the last line to "on the ground" or leave it as "in the ground"? I chose "in' on purpose because the speaker is imaging himself as bravely climbing the tree and being alive, but also reaching towards where his love is,
© 2013 - 2024 IntelligentZombie
Comments11
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Eevee1999's avatar
The flow and the feeling is just brilliant! I love the metaphorical height and well as the deep affection in this awesome poem! Great ending for 2012!