To My Wife on Our Anniversary

Jay Hopler

In Catiglione del Lago, the pines are iron-spined.
When the wind blows, they stand still & the earth
sways. If only God had forged me thus! Forced into
a stoopèd form & told to straighten up, that’s as
far as His blessings ever extended in my direction.
You know what keeps me from falling apart? Luck
& duct tape. Even so, those trees have nothing on
me. Blessed as they are, all they get to hold today
is a sick man’s attention &, maybe, a few birds.