— beginning on a line by Daniel Simko

All winter we have been inventing a plot against the pear tree
Conspiring for its fruit we wait out the labor then applaud the pear tree

The singing began as a bride about to wed At noon her veil rose
over the hill’s face then a voice amazed the pear tree

Clouds chambered spring rain the blackbirds’ tongues tolled
the bells of their beaks At last light a wind unarmed the pear tree

We weigh each fallen fruit in the orchard’s marketplace
like a congregation we open our mouths to approach the pear tree

In the first scene we saw crops turning over themselves in circles
In the last buzzards turning above the pear tree

Old roots strung their wooded rivers beneath the ground
At the west bank she shook her hands and unbraided the pear tree

The body lay chalked out beneath the leaves
But we found no probable cause to arrest the pear tree

We imagined an island country The leaves and sky weaving
into a wreath No sirens sang when we annexed the pear tree

My name in Hebrew means Beloved my opposite Exile
When I was king I threw stones He lumbered under the pear tree