One day after the surprise of snow, so heavy that
pine trees looked as though they had been bound for transport:
no longer triangular, carved to elongated ovals,
branches turned to giant snow globs hanging to the ground --
back there in the far corner of the yard the old manzanita,
taller than the apple tree, twisted branch trunks heavy with snow
quietly pulled itself up and over out of the ground
cracked its tap root and defied us to try to save it.
We tried to save it, a small crew of friends pushing and tugging to try to stand it back up, shove it back in its own hole. It creaked and groaned and resisted, so we left it lying on the ground and pondered whether to leave it there or turn it into firewood. Three months later it sent out new green buds on every branch, so we decided to just let it stay where it is and do whatever it's going to do.
Procrastination sometimes pays off.
