Tree Felling

An old elm tree dead two summers

Bare grey branches stretch among the green

Reminding us to take it down and log it for the winter

 - a job put off too long.

The task required

my muscle

and the wisdom of my father-in-law.

Me: action, enthusiasm.

Him: patience, considering, planning, tools, experience.

Familiar pattern in the trees.

Thirty feet up in the canopy

I am a long way from laptop computers and the information superhighway.

I see a deer follow her own path.

There are adders basking in the hot grass below.

A change of perspective, seeing the copse from above

 - silver-green leaves.

I am over forty now so do not admit a little vertigo to the others.

I strain and sweat with a powerful German electric saw,

 finely balanced, legs wobbling.

For the last part I use a hand saw, sweat in my eyes.

I climb down and join the others with a rope

Reminded of the strength and scale of the tree.

The top creaks – sound in the valley – cracks

 and with violence crashes through the undergrowth.

Removal of the rope with shaking hands

 wipe my brow.

Logging it will take another day.

viii.2015