'how to tell when a tree is sad'

I remembered him asking,
How do you tell when trees are sad?
"Why do you think
they would be sad?"
We were looking at a weeping willow
on that late summer day

– it had to be summer still because
the ground was soft and not crunchy
not bedded with dry leaves
but with soft, green grass.

His tiny eyes strained against
sun and tree branches across the way.

It was one of the last few days
when the sun would be out
so we held it captive in our stares

and we stared
as he conjured up a reason
to why he thought a tree could be sad

It's standing all alone and it can't move.

This sounded like a reasonable explaination to me.
"Do you think trees would be happier
if they could travel like we do?"
He tried to picture a world
with free-moving trees.
No, I don't think so. But maybe.
It was too warm out and
the sun felt too good on our faces
to try to change our world for trees

instead he clung to my arm
and leaned against my chest
and I thought
It would be easy to stand up and
make him lose his grip on my arm.
I imagined the sun must feel
the same way about the sky

that would make a tree sad,
if the sun went away
but trees probably don't worry too much
about the sun leaving

so we both continued to sit
on that soft summer grass
and enjoyed the sun
while it was still there