I am thinking of planting a tree
now the soil is warm.
March is when
the spade
does not ring or jar
against flint and frost
but goes in soft
through the earth—
like a sigh.
You tell me:
don’t make holes
that cut roots
and move things
laid down before
—let the ground be.
So, we leave the ferns
under the maple,
the faded sunflowers against
the bright wall we built.
Soft earth has its own way
of holding.
We walk old paths,
feel the pull of seasons
as the ground hums
beneath the mulch.
This tree
will keep our time
in its rings.
–
Kris Spencer is a writer and teacher. His poetry collections, Life Drawing (2022) and Contact Sheets (2024) are published by Kelsay Books. His third poetry collection, Slack Land (Kelsay Books) and debut novel, Every Storm is a Message (Holand Press), will be published in 2026.
© 2025, Kris Spencer
Halfway Down the Stairs 