Banyan

932

Virgil Su

the wind frustrates itself held
in the thin leaves, sifted

through the tendril, rope-like
roots of the mighty banyan

stumps of elephant feet, tough
gray skin, of a tree that doesn’t bend

against strong wind or hurricane
this one survived Andrew

in Coral Gables, where the Cubans
live now, they grow backwards

into the ground and sprout
more roots. How like exile

to leave such marks on those spots,
the places where life continues

in exile, the hand clutches
any dirt it can call its own.