Christmas at the Teardown

by Melanie Choukas-Bradley

 
The house dumbly waits for demolition
The tree in the yard already down and gone
 
In a night landscape of Christmas cheer
The property is the dark spot on the block
 
Anyone could see the house was too small
For the neighborhood
 
In a world where war destroys homes
This one falls to aggressive affluence
 
 
* * * * *

Melanie Choukas-Bradley is a naturalist and award-winning author of seven nature books, including City of Trees, A Year in Rock Creek Park, Finding Solace at Theodore Roosevelt Island and The Joy of Forest Bathing. She began writing poetry during the pandemic and had the good fortune to discover Beate Sigriddaughter’s Writing in a Woman’s Voice. The site has featured many of her poems, including “How to Silence a Woman,” “If I have loved you,” and “The Water Cooler,” which won Moon Prizes. Her poetry has also appeared in New Verse News.