Purposes

There is a grand tree,

the tallest in its grove,

not far from my back door,

most likely a walnut,

and just clinging to life,

sending out only a few leaves

in this dry summer,

and at once I am curious:

what does a tree know?

There is no answer

to this perhaps silly question--

but it could be like me,

who knows that the end

is not a forever away,

but close enough to loom,

and like that tree

I am still struggling

to put out new growth,

aiming to be of some use,

though maybe not so well

as my neighbor, the tree,

which has not forgotten

how to welcome the birds.