i've been in this forest for twenty three years now.
i don't know how long i've had this axe.
i keep it next to the trunk of trees to see
if i can tell whether they're the same age.
i can't tell. i've always held
this axe in my hands, with my grip on the blade,
and the handle in the air, making sure
i never touch the trees, even slightly,
even unintentionally, even if they come at me
swaying slenderly seductively.
the only part of the trees that has touched me
are its falling leaves which i shook off anyways.
i don't know why i fear the union of axe and tree,
which bifurcates, branches.
one day i come across the tallest tree i've ever seen
and immediately i swung my axe at it.
i know now. as soon as the axe touched the tree
i became the tree that was being axed.
i was revealed to be hollow and rotten inside.
the woodcutter i never was and no longer am
goes away, leaving the axe next to me, and i see
that it's younger than me but will live longer.
~ ajay
7/12/2024
