Excelling All Other Bliss Poem by Charles Chaim Wax

I came upon a black walnut tree
and searched high the branches
for perfumed green fruit
which surrounded
a hard particle of the tree’s
soul
but I didn’t spot any
so I searched the ground
where many were embedded
in the grass
but not green anymore—
dark brown
and had begun
to rot. I knelt
plucking one
sniffed
no trace of exquisite essence
the skin emanated
at birth
only decaying fruit
dwelling in
my hand
squeezing
to liberate
the seed
then
to dig a hole
dropping in the kernel
completing the miracle of
Earth’s
perpetual transformation
even though
most certainly
I’d be dead
before
the scented fruit
swayed in a summer breeze
a gift
for all
who’d
tread
upon this ground
I now
briefly inhabited.