Maples Grow Everywhere

These animals that eat so much and grow
so fast you can’t keep them long as pets.
Elephants are the obvious example.
A friend I didn’t have much confidence in
when it came to practical matters had to
get rid of her elephant when it was barely
out of its infancy. I have no idea what
she did with it, but knowing her
it’s hiding in the bushes just waiting
for a chance to trample the roses and eat
the leaves off the maple trees.

Gerald Yelle is a member of the Florence, Massachusetts Poets Society and lives in Amherst, Massachusetts. His books include "The Holyoke Diaries," FutureCycle Press, and "Mark My Word and the New World Order," Pedestrian Press. He has an e-chapbook at Yavaneka Press: “Industries Built on Words” and a chapbook “No Place I Would Rather Be” forthcoming from Finishing Line Press.