Things We Did
In the summer we used to wrap detonation cords
Around a tree
Yellow bands twisting around the trunk
We’d use nails, bite them deep
right into the wood to keep the explosives in place
We also liked the thought
of nails mixed with splinters and sap
It would be a bright day, with sunlight and birds
the works
and a tree wrapped
root to crown
In high explosive PETN
Eight thousand and four hundred meters per second of gas rate expansion
It was the crack of lightning on a clear day
We’d grab each other in a violent kiss
And a tree would turn into a million splinters
I like to remember
the things we did.
