The Trippy Tree

The Trippy Tree

twisting upwards incrementally,

arms of sequenced iron bars stretching

seductively hanging limbs piney seclusion

where sleepy young stoners can fuck, be fucked and get fucked

climbing up the tiers of the Trippy Tree

you of Deering Center who have grown on the banks

of Evergreen and the putrid smoke that

blows across King’s Hill

the elitists of grunge, toting fresh weed and kombucha

you of the West End, whose mansions or dingy flats

foster Tide-Pod eating TikTok stars 

you of Munjoy, up on the Hill which used to be so doped

addicts pushed like skeletons into the closets of Portland

make room for the gentrifuckation
- North Street still has the best view of the city -

you of Bayside, home base and scorn of Mayor Ethan

whose eyes see the death sleeping drugged on Oxford

without turning the corner to the life-rich gardens

climbing up the branches of the Trippy Tree

As you get higher you get higher

did you drop that tab yet?

your thighs burn with the effort

does it fucking matter?

“I saw her walking down Congress Street…

she had fuck me hips and bite me lips”

your sinewy bark studded with syringes

you disappear when the soccer moms pass

wearing white walking whining whippets 

re-emerging to divulge your lofty wisdom

oh, that which the Trippy Tree has seen 

would burn your eyes and boil your blood

falling through the boughs of the Trippy Tree

Quotation from “Beer Dick” by Nuclear Bootz