Sorry to see the tree go, John Henry!

 Talked to Jesse, who drove this truck.

They did remove the entire tree, which is more like a cypress than those giant redwoods in California.

It was diseased, but Jesse and his guys figured they'd "bite the bullet" and come out and remove the entire tree.

The homeowners, I believe the Kallums, got a special price.

I was on my second walk around the block when I stopped to palaver.

Clump of buttercups on my lawn.



In folklore, John Henry was the strongest man alive. This statue is in Summers County, West Virginia.

The strongest today? A Sumo wrestler, perhaps, a very fat man who wears a diaper-like uniform when he competes.

To be in love with a Sumo wrestler is to be a daring fearless person.

FAREWELL TO THIS EARTH

How strong I grew on this quiet street
in suburban Philadelphia
Had I muscles I would flex them like
Schwarzenegger
How proud I was until
until something within me
began to die.

I could not weep, could not moan,
I'd seen the owners scope me out
and knew some day they'd take me down.

April 2, my last day on earth
Modern equipment buzzed and
seesawed me down
monstrous sounds to wake the dead
Like the daylilly, here for one
day only, when she droops her
head in death, and now I am
nothing, nothing but a memory.