Mother Tree Poem by Joan Xie

Mother is a tree
dark and luminous
when summer arrives
all the birds fly to her, sing to her
to remember
what's already been remembered

All the birds
they don't nest on another tree
though the neighborhood has many other trees
tall, short, more luscious
smell more delicious
Memory follows its own scent
to the womb to the dark womb

To the root

Mother is a tree
When roof gone, walls collapsed
leaves were all scared away by the wind
she remains intact
She is bare
All the birds fly to her
to her deep well
to the truth

Years had been wiped clean
generations were lost
nothing to win
but nothing there to lose
Mother is a tree
The memory

Of all the flying birds