A Tree Within

A tree grew inside my head.
A tree grew in.
Its roots are veins,
its branches nerves,
thoughts its tangled foliage
Your glance sets it on fire,
and its fruits of shade
are blood oranges
and pomegranates of flame.

Da y breaks

in the body’s night.
There, within, inside my head,
the tree speaks.

Come closer–can you hear it?

–Octavio Paz
1914-1998

This poem, first read by me somewhere in the midst of 1998-2003, was the beginning of my connection to blood oranges and trees.  My favorite part is “Day breaks,” which in Spanish is “amanece.”  This may be my favorite word.