WAYS THE TREES AND I DIFFER

Rachel Nolan

I do not have leaves / my bark does not peel off / if I fall I can get up again / I can plant myself

anywhere / I can uproot as I please / I do not belong to the earth / the earth does not belong to me /

I can touch anything I want to / I can touch myself if I want to / I do not have to stand tall / I do

not have to stay standing / nothing can make a home in me / no one can make a home out of me /

I am not always growing / I am not patient / I can not teach patience / you could cut me in half if

you wanted to

Rachel Nolan is an editor for Green Writers Press, as well as managing editor for Millennial Pulp Literary Magazine. Rachel’s work is recent or forthcoming in Juste Milieu, Duende, HOOT, Beyond Words, Tilde, and Trouvaille Review. Instagram: @r.nolanpoet Twitter: @bigpoetrynerd