The Madman Whirling Through the Tree

The madman whirling through the tree
scatters the sun’s proud abacus
to return the moon to love and madness
and feel psychosis in the stars.

His maddened leaves shimmer the darkness.
His branches weave the havoc in his mind.
The bud within the bloom of every fear
irradiates the nerve ends of the stars.

He traces the rain back to angels
until the swirling storm surrenders.
One drop may yet yield a heaven.
He hears the note-less music of the stars.

Now rains hush fires in his roots
as they probe through darkness like moles,
seeking the jewel buried in his heart
that throbs like a gentle star.

Sean Lause is a professor of English at Rhodes State College in Lima, Ohio, USA.  His poems have appeared in The Minnesota Review, The Alaska Quarterly, Another Chicago Magazine, The Beloit Poetry Journal, The Pedestal, Illuminations, European Judaism, Atlanta Review, Sanskrit and Poetry International.  His first book of poems, Bestiary of Souls, was published by FutureCycle Press in 2013.  His favorite poets are Emily Dickinson, Rimbaud, and the Ramones.