Poetry: Thundercloud Plum Tree by Sean Bronson

Thundercloud Plum Tree

When I was about eight years old,

having read too many comic books

about men flying around in capes

and being impervious to bullets,

I told you to shoot me with an arrow.

You knew how to make them from the

branches of a Thundercloud Plum Tree

in your front yard. You twisted off its

burgundy leaves and aimed the nub

at the white moon shining in my eye.

You pulled back the twine of your 

homemade bow, and a jab of unexpected

pain punched me. Before my hands 

could even twitch, you had let go.

Sean Bronson is currently living in Los Angeles, working as an English teacher for foreign students. Sometimes, he likes to travel outside the U.S.