“Sometimes I dream of a tree,
and the tree is my life.
One branch is the man I shall marry,
and the leaves my children.
Another branch is my future as a writer,
and each leaf is a poem.
Another branch is a glittering academic career.
But as I sit there, trying to choose,
the leaves begin to turn brown and blow away
until the tree is absolutely bare.”
-Sylvia (2003)
x
