Night Moves

[just mercedes]

I am no longer acquainted
with you;
when you speak to me
I do not know
what to say

I wonder sometimes
if you remember
the birch trees
from the Beach Road house

They walked at night, moving
to different locations
in our yard, trying to warn us
about the future

The one at the corner
looked like a naked corpse,
like you look now: white
leafed hair, black spots
on slender branches

I remember cutting it down
in 1972; it was diseased,
and you said it was the right thing
to do

We cut it into smaller pieces,
stacking them like body parts
against our cellar door

I like the way you (mostly) show your reader a scene, and the emotional colouring comes from your tone rather than from the literal words.

I don't think I've commented on a poem of yours before - I'm straight-forward and of course speak from my own experience and in my opinion only.

1st stanza isn't needed. The sense of it is obvious from the rest of the text.

2nd stanza - I'd try for more strength by eliminating 'sometimes' and 'from' - should that be 'in' or 'at'? The 'house' isn't where the trees are/were, so lose that too.

3rd stanza - do you need both moving and walking?

4th stanza - The one at the corner has lost its place because of the moving around - maybe try just 'one looked like' 'like you look now' is such an intrusion - 'as you look now' would sound better, but is any of it needed here? Just 'one looked like a naked corpse; white / leafed hair ...

5th stanza - stronger if you omit "I remember' just 'I cut ...'

I like the strength in the closing. Well done.