TREE ON TAYLOR STREET

Once overlooking

Curley’s garden,

it had stood

amazingly tall

and brusque

like a celery stick

plopped right

next to a small house

and an unpaved driveway

for so long

that, after having

been away for years,

I had to blink twice

to believe

I wasn’t seeing

a ghost tree there

standing not so small

in its place.

 

-Raymond Luczak

 

Raymond Luczak is the author and editor of 22 books, including Flannelwood (Red Hen Press) and Lovejets: Queer Male Poets on 200 Years of Walt Whitman (Squares & Rebels). He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and online at raymondluczak.com.