Green Guy

The big pine outside is friendly

like a Saint Bernard,
or like my cat when she treats me
just a bit like I was one of the kittens
she never had.

The landlord is too lazy to trim it

and it rubs all over the house.
Ants probably march across it
and nest in the eaves.
I did not notice it for a year,
then for the next year I thought it was too dark,
but now I like it and the balance of shade
it gives our yellow house,
with a thousand dark dangling sprigs
that mutter on swaying branches.

I think of the sweet sap in the soft wood
under the bark of the tree.
I wish energy, nutrition, and strength
to flow through the sap.

I'm not sure the tree cares about all that,
but it's hard to tell, given that
I have trouble letting friends in.