Kim

“Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky,

We fell them down and turn them into paper,

That we may record our emptiness.”

~Kahlil Gibran

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.” 

~Chinese proverb

He stirs the paper,

Adding a single crease. Whispered movement,

Informing the leaf.

Fingers glide, a designer

Of creases and folds, as if they were,

Designed of the same mold.

I survey my own child-like, muddled effort

To manipulate the stiff sheet

And watch it contort.

I re-orient the paper, 

With fingers that tangle,

And ensnare, my little piece of earth.

I ask, “When will mine be like yours?”

“Paper is patient,”

He replies.