I Know This Is A Terrible Photograph Of Mine BUT ...

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It is a memory manufacturer

!!!

 I have learned the names
of at least 105
plants/trees/flowers
but presently
will fail to
correctly identify
at least
99 of them.

This is a photograph of
a Japanese Red Maple,
a tree whose name
I will never
fail to identify
correctly.

It always conjures up
the Red Maple tree
in the yard of
our summer home
in Rocky Point. 

In either the winter of
1960 or 1961,
someone stole that tree
from our yard
!!!

No more could 
the Oliverio family
sit at their breakfast table
and see both
water-skiers
in the Long Island Sound
and the lush red tree
in our front yard

I do not suspect this
Japanese Red Maple
was stolen from Long Island
and transported to
Long Beach, California

Nor do I have
unpleasant memories
every time I see
a Japanese Red Maple

Every time I see one
and get past family memories,
I conclude with
the lesson that
theft has the power
to increase your vocabulary

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