This is an odd poem in that the second verse has a different pattern from the first verse — each corresponding line is twice as long.
You can tell I wrote this in another part of the country, since my chosen tree is ‘maple’ rather than, say, ‘redwood’.
If snakes had wings
If dogs could sing
Should laughter ring the hallowed halls
If boulders sail
And maples wail
Only then would my love pall
They say there’re dragons. Without a choice
The moon can make the hound give voice
And mirth is not a stranger to the holiest of shrines
Volcanoes spew forth rock and stone
A strong wind makes the forest moan
Another one has won my heart, no longer are you mine