BRIAN LAIDLAW

 

                                     



FIVE PARAGRAPH ESSAY ON THE ASH BEETLE


1.

It all comes down to my wanting to make the world
slightly better & in reality
probably making it slightly worse

 

2.

I excrete elements the trees breathe
& excrement the trees eat

 

3.

I once hoped my little pickup notes & the casual mending
of mental errors performed therein
would amount to some light diminishment
of the ongoing catastrophe,
but I kneel down in the dirt to pick up money
& in so doing spill motes of the wrong kind of dust
among the native dander

 

4.

The firewood I burn while composing a harmless verse
introduces a deadly bore
to the frail forest

 

5.

Watch the firs turn orange as aspens:
the string of deaths I cause will long outlast me


 

                                                                                                      

 

      

 

                                   

 

 


TYPO 23