Shed and Dream

Summer Issue 1954

Shed and dream



Rest with me under the linden tree.

I do not have a linden tree.

Come with me to buy a linden tree, stopping first
at the bank, for I need a loan to buy a linden tree.

Stay with me while the linden tree grows.

We can have babies while the linden tree grows,
colorectal cancer while the linden tree grows,
an infestation of ladybugs while the linden tree grows.

Babies sleep on blue blankets in July, shadows
of heart-shaped leaves brushing their new faces
as the linden tree grows.

Let us warn others of the hard work of the linden tree.

Then rest with me beside the knocked-down shed and dream
of the cherry tree.

O pie in the sky.


Bob Hicok
Published in The Paris Review