Black Walnut

The nearest I’ve been to heaven,
Was atop my Black Walnut Tree;
I could see over the neighbor’s rooftops,
Climbing upwards and on, to infinity.

The gentle Delta breezes swayed,
I soared in the limbs like a bird.
There are noises in the treetops,
Most humans have never heard.

My every secret, told to the sky,
My dreams, post-marked by the wind.
Paradise to this twelve-year-old,
Was a world forever, without end.

Sadly then, my universe,
Was envisioned by a fool…
The tree sawed down in ‘65
Making way for our swimming pool.