Palm Tree

Palm-tree: single-legged giant,

topping other trees,

peering at the firmament -

It longs to pierce the black cloud-ceiling

and fly away, away, 

if only it had wings.

The tree seems to express its wish

in the tossing of its head:

its fronds heave and swish -

It thinks, Maybe my leaves are feathers,

and nothing stops me now

from rising on their flutter.

All day the fronds the windblown tree

soar and flap and shudder

as though it thinks it can fly,

As though it wanders in the skies,

travelling who knows where,

wheeling past the stars -

And then as soon as the wind dies down,

the fronds subside, subside:

the mind of the tree returns.

To earth, recalls that earth is its mother:

and then it likes once more

its earthly corner.