Living Tower of Pisa

Abe V Rotor

Firetree (Delonix regia) in bloom leaning precariously
45 degrees towards Regalado Ave., Fairview, QC 2010

An arch and a crown you make
for all passersby
to greet and honor them;
your trunk and limbs reach out
in friendly handshake
and embrace;

you send confetti year round,
green in monsoon,
fire red in summer;
you comfort the tired and weary
under your shade;

you filter the air of gas and dust,
heat and sound;
mark the passing of seasons,
the turn of the clock;

you are home and inn of creatures:
birds and their young,
fern and moss clinging,
to bees and butterflies;

you stir imagination into the arts,
in song and poetry;
rise up and point to heaven
to enliven the spirit;

with arms outstretched for so long,
you have been calling, pleading,
for a passerby to stop
and look up. ~