"Neglect"

In “Neglect”, RT Smith reflects on how everything needs some TLC using imagery and a regretful tone. He says that if one does not care for a tree, one will skew the sap, blacken the leaves and dry the bark and heart. Every one of these adjectives are harsh and bring up images of death and wrongness. Skew for example makes the reader recall something crooked or bad. He should have given more care into the tree and patched up it with medicinal pitch. Patching up is reminiscent of someone helping another person out and medicinal just strengthens that image. When he was “too enchanted by pear saplings, flowers and the pasture,” he was distracted by fantastical ideas as the mixture of enchanted and flowers bring fairies and other fantasy creatures to mind. He should have been caring for his tree but instead he got distracted. The fact that the applewood was not just being burned it was feeding the stove, brings images of something being devoured by fire and the care that could have been used to prevent the fire were just words wasted by Smokey the Bear. RT Smith looks back on when he gave the tree tender loving care with wonder. Bees are not attracted to the pollen, they are dazzled and ice only adds to the elegance of the tree. “Neglect” shows that everything needs TLC to live by showing what happened to the speaker when he did not give his apple tree TLC through intense imagery.