Too Young to Know

One day, my father chopped down
The old apricot tree
Which used to live in my parents backyard.
My father deflected my anger at him
With a look I heard Muddy Waters sing:
Y’all too young to know.

When I went to my mother
For the truth,
I only heard
What he must have told her:
A vague story about roots
and basement pipes,
A vague story about branches
and kitchen windows,
Punctuated by a shrug which meant:
He just does what he does.

The blues don’t know nothing about trees
Unless, of course,
It’s enlisted the moon
To drag some shadows around,
Unless, of course,
Something jumps up
Out of a hollow log,
A worry you didn’t need
To cross your path.

My father’s gone,
The tree’s a stump,
And I’m still too young to know
If one day, I’ll glance
out my window
At the sycamore,
And cluck my teeth.

~ Cornelius Eady