The aspen glitters in the wind.
And that delights us.
The leaf flutters, turning,
Because that motion in the heat of summer
Protects its cells from drying out. Likewise the leaf
Of the cottonwood.
The gene pool threw up a wobbly stem
And the tree danced. No.
The tree capitalized.
No. There are limits to saying,
In language, what the tree did.
It is good sometimes for poetry to disenchant us.
Dance with me, dancer. Oh, I will.
Aspens doing something in the wind.
— by Robert Hass from The New Yorker, June 27, 2005 (p. 97)
Thoughts In Random Patterns 
I love this poem. I use it to teach students composition and introduction to literature. Surely there are limits to saying “in language” what anything did. I have a question though – I don’t know if anyone else has commented on it. Who is the voice (italicized)- is the speaker of the poem finally addressing the tree – or vice versa?