The
Hades Tree
The spruce
tree was in the gully standing tall, alone,
and
inviting. This big tree would complete my cord;
but my
pile was on high ground, and I had no choice
but
to cut it down and haul it up piece by piece in 8-foot
cord-pile
lengths. I notched the trunk in just the right
place,
planning the fall close to my pile. My cut went well,
the
tree fell, and I limbed it from the bottom to the top;
then
I sliced the chain saw blade of my heavy Pioneer 620
through
the tree, my hands vibrating violently, and severed
seven
lengths to top off my second cord and 14th day
of
summer work. It was a sweltering, breezeless, pesky
black
and deer fly infested bush-hot dry mid-July T-shirt
drenching
day, but my Javex jug full of ice water, which
I replenished
every evening and kept in my mother’s
freezer
for the next workday, was still cold, and I gulped
down
the temple-throbbing spring-like water for new
vigor
and began to haul the logs up the hill to stack onto
my
pile. I started with the thinnest, lightest, and closest
piece
to my pile, and with each log that I hauled and heaved
with
my hand hook onto my cord pile, I grew as strong
and confident
as the mythical hero with the bull upon
his
back; but with each descent to my fate, I felt the greater
weight
of the thickening logs and my steps became too
burdened
to bear, and I called on Sisyphus to set me free.
Young
and full of zest (piss and vinegar, the old timers
said),
I would not submit to defeat, and I summoned all
I had
to up-end the penultimate piece up the hill and stack
it
onto my pile. And when it fell into its destined place,
I
felt as good as the man who mocked the gods, and with
a
joyful heart I descended to embrace my fate once more.
But
the butt of the tree was too heavy for me, and my spirits
sank
with dejection. I drank some water, warming but still
refreshing,
and I resolved to roll the last 8-foot log up the hill
and
give my life symbolic meaning. I grabbed my hook
and commenced
the task that set the pattern of my life`s
quest.
I refused to be defeated by a piece of wood too heavy
to
lift, and I rolled my fateful log inch by inch until I made
it to the summit and my pile, and I called
upon the mythical
man
of willful defiance and hoisted the final piece of the Hades
tree
onto my stack. Then I looked up into the clear blue sky;
and with
salty sweat and tears in my eyes, I smiled at all
the capricious
gods in heaven.
Composed
in Nipigon, Ontario
Date
unknown: 1990-2000
