Entrenched

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ENTRENCHED


The root is thicker than perceived,

far deeper too, unmoved by dirt

and the many wary travelers 

who took a rendezvous aware 

the root was thick, deep, 

and wouldn’t move. And see, 

the tree provides us shade 

we say, then quickly laugh away 

the part of us that notices 

how in a certain light the branches 

look alarmingly like barbed-wire. 

And you? No, you’ll never 

pull it out. This much is true. 

If you insist, though, best case scenario

is someone sees you straining over

it—a child, preferably—who wonders

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