For many northerners
whom those of us who actually
live in the north like to call
snowbirds,
the palm tree is more familiar
in winter
than the pine.
The palm tree has one characteristic
that the pine does not:
the ability to bend immediately
in a heavy wind.
A pine tree would never survive
a tropical hurricane;
of course, a palm tree
would never survive northern ice.
It’s all a matter of swaying
in the wind
or standing up
to the cold.
I’d rather stand than sway
but then that’s what makes
me a northerner
and certain politicians
snowbirds.