Deed
As George Washington hacked at his cherry tree,
Joseph said to him
This is the tree that fed Mary
When she lingered by the way.
As George Washington polished his bright blade,
Joseph told him
This cherry tree
Bent down and nourished the mother and her babe.
As George Washington felled the cherry tree,
Voices of root and stem
Cried out to him
In heavenly accents, but he heard not what they had to say.
Rather, he was making
A clearing in the wilderness,
A subtle discrimination
Of church and state,
By which his little hatchet
Harvested a continental
Bumper crop for Mary
Of natural corn.
Copyright Credit: Josephine Miles, “Deed” from Collected Poems. Copyright � 1983 by Josephine Miles. Reprinted with the permission of the University of Illinois Press.
Source: Collected Poems 1930-83 (1983)