PB…

OK, comparisons and illusions aside, you have at least made a little sense out of the first stanza. Even still, I chose my deliberate tongue in cheek gangster references after it struck me at once that the poem reminded me eerily of 'Waiting for Godot.' In a few striking senses the message and metaphors are similar. Especially the tree. And now that I have considered your 'absence-as-presence' theory to be valid I must add that similarity as well.

But then I thought about our recent trials here with educated comparisons in deciphering the intent of the latest series of authors and I decided that citing non literary references could lead me to the same conclusions about the poems meaning. And for the most part I did arrive at my own solution.

Incidently, I also played around with the idea of the first stanza being the voice of God speaking in the Garden of Eden. Where advice unheeded became original sin. The pen, Jesus on earth, will attempt to save us though he knows not how except through the word or body of Christ, as the Father who holds the pen has disappeared. I decided that was too obvious a reading.

Zinya…

You are fun to read.