Mind of an Oak
May 20, 1998
BOSTON
How an oak tree thinks: Every twist
in its corkscrew limbs is a time-
lapse reaction to rain, to rocks
diverting the roots. It reaches
from its center to occupy
space - an elegance, functional,
finding its balance against wind,
a slope's intransigent slant,
its instinct what an observer
calls beauty, equilibrium
its passion, its only thought.