You see the hearts carved on to the trunk
The "Susie loves Johnny" or "Timmy loves Faye"
You see the "4-ever" and sometimes it's all crossed out.
It was an important tree that held their hearts.
Placing a pen in my hand
I stare at the paper
Was this the part of that tree?
The one of many with many carved hearts?
Or is this the part that the names were crossed out...
The heart that was broken
And the tree that was shredded?
It had to be.
I picked up my pen more than once
I stared at the paper thinking, "just sign"
I laid down the pen each time.
This was where Susie loved Johnny.
I could feel it.
It always sounded effortless
But feels too hard.
It was always coming
but now that it is here.....
I remembered the cement being fresh
The sign that said "do not walk-wet cement"
I remember his and her names by his mom's front yard
And over the years it is still there
But they are no longer.
We didn't write in cement
We didn't write on a tree
But we signed on those papers
We signed over the hearts
Over the names that we could not see
It meant the world.
I picked up my pen more than once
I stared at the paper thinking, "just sign"
This was where the heart was crossed out
I could feel it.
~~grb 2013~~
