Fallen from the Canopy
My mother would tell me the story
of a Great Tree
which towered over the ocean
and gazed at the mountains
Who’s dark knots
hosted Wandering Salamanders
while Red Tree Voles
scrambled through her leaves
And every morning
Lemur climbed her branches
skipping between rungs
peering at her bark
Curious Lemur would climb and climb
until he found dark patches
to tear away from her trunk
and reveal rotten wood
And every morning
Raven would soar above her crown
in lazy swooping circles
peering at her bark
Clever Raven would soar and soar
until she spotted Lemur
tear away bark
and reveal rotten wood
When Lemur cast the bark off
Raven would know to dive down
and dig her beak into the soft wood
to rip mites from their hideout
For Raven and Lemur
to feast on together
As leaves withered
and fell to the ground
then grew back anew
Lemur watched Raven more closely
In the sheen of her coat
Lemur caught his reflection
and acquired a taste
for the beauty of Raven
One morning, on Lemur’s ascent
he hid a stone in his mouth
sharpened by rushing water
by the roots on the bank
That morning Lemur climbed
and climbed
and found a piece of bark
he couldn’t tear off
Lemur slid the point of the rock
into the folds of the bark
wrapped his tail around the trunk
and pried until the wood snapped off
and fell to the ground
revealing bright red wood
At the sight of Lemur’s command
Raven dove down to Lemur
and plunged her long beak
into the wood
Lemur, captured by his reflection
in the glimmer of Raven
hardly notice her beak strike wood
over and over
Raven, never let down
by her Lucky Lemur
Struck even as her head wrung
even as her beak dulled
Until to the horror of Lemur
a final shock Zig Zagged
down her beak
splintering her maw
Lemur, hung by his tail
lunged to catch Raven
but his hand full with river rock
slid down her shining feathers
As Raven fell
in slow spirals
to the base
of the Great Tree
Now the Great Tree aches
and sways
withering at the marks of 10,000 mites
and Lemur still climbs
every morning
to rip off dead bark
hoping one day
Raven will return
