For My Daughter
on the eve
of summer
the 13th year
at a morning
stoplight
saw a small
parachute tree
upright
its leaves fresh
green
one day
it’ll take off
without a sound
to where the rain falls
before it hits
the ground
and I wonder if
it will remember
the smell of grass
in the spring
what it felt like
all those wings
fluttering
ladybugs and fireflies and butterflies
how they just appeared
then disappeared
like a hummingbird
at the window
that wouldn’t wait
for a picture
TL