about the man
with the pear tree
who lost his wife
after fifty-six years of marriage
and how he had that old gnarled tree
in his backyard, and that that tree
doesn’t know when enough is enough.
That last month
he had to prop the poor thing’s branches up
with two-by-fours
it was so laden with fruit, &
how he gave you a bagful of those pears
and their scent filled the car,
even with the window rolled down.
Poem: JULIA KLATT SINGER writes poems, is the poet in residence at Grace Nursery School, and a rostered artist for Compas. She is the author of three books of poetry, her most recent, Untranslatable, and coauthor of Twelve Branches: Stories from St. Paul. She’s cowritten songs with composers Tim Takach and Jocelyn Hagen.
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