Michael Ruby

Four Poems

The Dead Trees by Night and by Day

The dead trees fire

Blights do exist

Syllogisms by night

In fact, grizzly

Behold the dead trees

Lions stand out

The dead trees prestidigitate

Firefights do exist

Overload by night

In fact bonbons

Whiten the dead trees

Freedoms stand out

The dead trees pop

Balloons do exist

Bright by night

In fact, hustling

Ominous the dead trees

Brothers-in-law stand out

The dead trees pantaloons

Sybarites do exist

Adriatic by day

In fact, amniotic

Polymorphic the dead trees

Indivisible stand out

The dead trees perambulate

Preservatives do exist

Huckleberries by day

In fact, lyceums

Residual the dead trees

Bromingtons stand out

The Dead Trees Stay Around So Long

The dead trees elevate

Stay pontifical

Around holidays

So long polygons

The dead trees remember

Stay tuned

Around noon

So long holographic

The dead trees pretend

Stay relevant

Around eleven

So long onions

The dead trees distill

Stay arches

Around nine

So long platooned

The dead trees eftsoons

Stay lemon

Around olives

So long to shoulder

The dead trees place

Stay telegenic

Around the cloud

So long in reach

The dead trees reason

Stay Melchior

Around huddle

So long Momaday

The dead trees pellibulate

Stay mommest

Around nemen

So long dantabble

The Dead Trees at Night

The dead trees don’t understand

Sometimes we exist

In the silverbells of night

The dead trees park on the median

And timepieces don’t exist

In the sinecures at night

The dead trees ran the stoplights

Like they no longer exist

In the middle innings of night

The dead trees on the dock

Think chilbains don’t exist

In heart-shaped tubs at night

The dead trees inside our songs

And ting-tongs don’t exist

Under the watchful eyes of night

The dead trees “Under Western Eyes”

Without sassafras don’t exist

In the unsalted butter of night

The dead trees bore to a place

Where we don’t exist

And you know what exists at night