false alarm

a tree of sirens grows in the yard.
i go out each morning to tend it.
flashing lights & screams.
i don't know how
it doesn't wake you up.
once, we grew lemons 
but inside each fruit we found a tooth.
you said, "let's bury them"
& so we did. now mouths open
if you are not careful. ankles bitten.
tripping in the crab grass.
i love the taste of a siren. it fills
your mouth with ache & running.
i haven't run in years. my body 
doesn't let me. ankles twist 
& turn into licorice. but, i can 
feel anything in a bite of cherry.
syrup drips down my arms.
i don't want you to have to see the tree.
it's so bright & loud & angry.
the truth is that the tree grows 
wherever i do. in the alley way
of the house in new york.
sleeping in the wedny's parking lot
in my oldsmobile. there the sirens were.
i told them, "i already know
everything to be scared of."
the tree always laughs & says,
"but did you think of the war.
but did you remember that once
everyone you knew 
turned orange & silent?"
& more & more fears until
we are both wailing & i am climbing
every single branch trying
to pluck the fruit.