To Hug a Tree

The oldest tree in the world lives somewhere
in Utah or Nevada. 

It’s a five thousand year old
bristlecone pine protected by piney resin
repelling invaders and blight. 

The location is secret
so my wife won’t find it and give it a hug.

Pine trees aren’t the easiest trees
to hug what with their piney stickiness
although I’ve seen her do it to one she calls Anna.

Trees have an atomic ancientness, a melodic mysteriousness
an architectonic self-regard.
Their spreading limbs await an embrace

so my wife holds them.

It’s a way for her to feel close to the transcendent,
not too close
but for a moment close enough.

Thomas J. Erickson is an attorney in Milwaukee where he is a member of the Hartford Avenue Poets. He has published five books of poetry. His most recent, Cutting the Dusk in Half (Bent Paddle Press, 2022), was awarded second place in the WFOP Chapbook Contest.