Lemon Tree - Pree

The pastor stood at odds with every

sermon read, and once he learned

to speak in knots, he never had

to wear his share of scarlet- what a shame

they caught a word he said

You shouldn’t live to second-guess

but certain thoughts, they think they ought

to roam the sheets before you dress

and drag you down the stairway, raring

open-mouthed to down the morning spread

I’ll pile their plates as high as towers

if they’ll just go back to bed

I took you for a sailing boat,

a steady-calm, parading float

I sent with shuddered waves until I saw

what I was made of-- shabby coat

to throw upon a lake of mud and thinning ice

a hollow tone

an echo dry that wouldn’t fall

from any body but a stone

Now I’m giving only what I’ve found

I hear you’re living deep inside the ground

A walking sore to clean and dress,

a mess to sweep below the feet

He’s sure to take a pound of flesh

if he would only show some teeth

and meet you where you came to grow

a lemon tree

and hoped to live it down

A rope’s an awful thing to give

to someone happy on the ground

Now I’m giving only what I’ve found

I hear you’re living deep inside the ground