Clippers by Wayne-Daniel Berard

I may not be able
to keep my mother
from fading like
an old photograph
before my eyes
as lymphoma
undevelops her
nor can I convince
the fragmenting
selves who are
my father that
the mute woman
beside him in the
common room is
not plotting against
him but I can
refuse to not notice
the frigging nerve
of that vine shooting
itself impossibly
from the chain link
into the personal space
of this poor maple
wrapping itself
insidiously around
and around and around it
I can take these bloody big
shears and clip the living
hell out of the goddamn
thing and feel
the tree breathe that much easier
and myself coming back
tomorrow.



Wayne-Daniel Berard, Ph.D., teaches Humanities at Nichols College, Dudley, MA. He publishes broadly in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. His novella, Everything We Want, was published by Bloodstone Press in 2018. A full-length book of poetry, The Realm of Blessing, will be published in 2020 by Unsolicited Press. Wayne-Daniel lives in Mansfield, MA with his wife, the Lovely Christine.