The Tree and Me

By Lena Quezada

Dear, dear Hannah Marie,

The one who slipped away,

Away from what could be,

If only you held on that day.

You claimed to love me

At least, that’s what you used to say,

But then you proved, in just one day,

You were the liar they swore you’d be.

The day we climbed that tree,

I asked you ever so gently.

But, when you said “No,”

The wind shoved you away from me.

Now I haunt this tree,

Waiting for you to come back to me.

Oh, how I yearn for thee,

My Hannah Marie.

Can you not tell

How my mind grows unwell,

As the branches scratch

Reaching for my window latch?

Its bark and drying leaves

Remind me of how you used to be,

Before you fell out of that old tree,

Ever so suddenly.

Our love was too strong

For living hands to hold,

That's how it seemed, at least,

When the night grew cold.

But oh, how warm I felt,

How admired, wholly desired,

When you harvested my heart,

Could you feel it too?

How could you not?

It's only ever been

Just me

And you.