Kira Schukar

Home Oak

It’s crazy

my mom told me         how many years it takes

to grow

I thought it was as old as the redwoods. She

said it was growing before

they built the house.    Its branches

stretched up     cracked fingers caressing

the blue. Green leaves

humming         mom singing Irish Lullaby.

Living,

a tree is a hymn

to something greater than the tree.

It’s crazy         she said

how many years it takes to

            Dying,

a tree is an omen

            to the living.

My first summer home from college

brown leaves dripped

like liver spots. A shadow stained

our window     a mold creeping up our

walls,   and I spent the summer ignoring

her requests to go to the farmers market or

walks in the woods.

It’s crazy         how many years it takes

to grow old

Mom texted me           call me

she told me she has skin cancer

in the crescent above her eye  they’ll take it

one thin layer at a time

there’ll be a scar on my eyebrow

It’s crazy

Sleeping          in an old bed

is like falling               waiting            for solid ground

It’s crazy         how quickly

They took our tree      greedily

in chunks

It’s crazy         how quickly they take it

Gone,

a tree is a bald spot     a fragment

of the years.

It’s crazy         how quickly it disappears.

Kira Schukar is a junior English student at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. When she isn’t writing, she can be found hiking the Mississippi River trails, catching a late movie, or cooking. Find updates to her podcast on Instagram at @kiraspodcast.