"Even the Trees Get to Be Slutty" by Megan McDermott

The tree is topless, all trunk.

Its body cuts open to the sky,

slit running up most its length

like a dress designed to surprise,

when moving, with a delight of thigh.

I don’t regret the college boys I

didn’t kiss as much as the outfits

I never let myself wear in the era

of regular, skimpy occasions. My

moral judgments have been replaced

by practical concerns or vibes – crop tops

and short-shorts unneeded for grocery

store or coffee shop, for charcuterie or wine.

My exposed, tawdry tree, I bet you grew

this way unaided and uninterrupted,

without angst as to what you might evoke

or thought of stitching yourself closed.

After all, you and all your fellows stand

naked each and every winter, without stigma

for your fallen clothes. God, give me

such a winter, to be seen bare in the cold

Megan McDermott is a poet and Episcopal priest living in Western Massachusetts. She is author of Jesus Merch: A Catalog in Poems and two chapbooks, Woman as Communion and Prayer Book for Contemporary Dating. Her poems have been published in a variety of journals, including Amsterdam Review, U.S. Catholic, the Christian Century, UCity Review, Moist Poetry Journal, and Night Heron Barks.