This maple’s a mess
but might have been worse

there must have been
some arborist

come to cut back limbs
to stumps, I don’t

recall it but then
the evidence

was mostly hidden
by leaves;

it took
a lot of wind

to get to this
point.

I also had to ask
if this gate

has always been here?
Walking through

a door being
a cue to forget,

but still I wonder
about how hard

it is to see
daily presences,

requiring four
seasons, at least,

to get the full,
clear, picture.