Family

We were so sad, we left our houses to live in a tree.
Of course we were together, our limbs tangled,
our breaths breathing in each other’s bodies.
The tree told us we could only be temporary.
At night, we heard the tree talking to other trees,
though we couldn’t make out the words.
They seeped into our sleep and became
malignant in our dreams. In the mornings
we woke and saw we’d made something
monstrous out of fear our sanctuary wouldn’t
save us. We swept our tears into the streets,
hid in the bark of our brooms as if wood
had become new skin. I stood underneath
the tree sometimes, and waited.