The Bullet Tree - From a Neighborhood Child
THE BULLET TREE
No one knows how long the bullet has been lodged in the big old maple tree
Mr. Ailey claims he knows but Mr. Ailey is an old old man
No one till Teddy so far as we know ever tried to dig it out
Mr. Ailey says the growth at last will push it out
Ailey says “The shot was fired at trailin’ injun’ horsemen”
He rubs the wrinkles down off his face and says
“It was a Wells and Fargo stage a rollin’ down what now appears yer Downin’ Street
That there tree was jist a sturdy pole when ‘Ugly Ben” a sittin’ shot-gun fired a round
At them them injuns” Then old Ailey clucks his teeth
The bullet tree is just down the terrace from the deaf lady’s house
It stands on the dear lady’s property (Mrs. Troutman)
“That there house ya see” Ailey’s pointing with one crooked finger
“That there house useta be nuthin’ but prairie dog territory” He coughs spits a string
“I come huntin’ buffalo afore even that there tree was more’n a shootin’ twig
Ta git back ta Ben Now Ben come back one day ta see ifn he could find a shell or two
When he come upon the bullet lodged in tha tree
So he drove it in and pushed the empty shell casing in in back of it
Thet there bullet Ya see? Goes tat ha very heart o’ thet there tree”
Even at our age we didn’t believe half of what the old man said
Teddy tried to pry the bullet out one day
But the deaf woman crackled threats from her porch
Her voice we thought what a porcupine might sound like
Anyway the deaf woman’s cackle was a bad omen we thought
The bullet tree at last became a challenge
To dart after careful observation then
To touch the dented weathered circled end
Without arousing Mrs. Troutman
Copyright © Daver Austin | Year Posted 2011
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