There are trees, and there are not-trees.
A painting or a photograph of trees
is not-trees. So are salt-flats not-trees.
The distinction is crucial.
Ask the jay or the cardinal
that climbs a tree. Ask
the squirrel. Not literally,
but ask. Advise the ground,
which is mottled,
not cast in full sunlight.
At a saloon, someone struck
a philosopher in the face.
Not-hard. But nonetheless.
The philosopher had said
there are no trees, only
ideas of trees, and he
happened to have stopped
in timber country. Also,
he hadn't bought a round
of drinks, which are not-trees
but which nonetheless
matter to people.