Thematic Structure in "The Garden of the Trumpet Tree"

The visual structure of Kelly’s “The Garden of the Trumpet Tree” catches the reader’s immediate attention, as it is written in one long block of prose without stanzas, line breaks, meter, or rhythm. This poem presents itself as almost an anti-poem—it has none of the most common features that define what a poem is. This, I think, is the first indication of the poem’s overall themes of antithetical pairings/characteristics that make up one single being.

The speaker observes the “trumpet tree” for the first time and notices it is merely a withered, rotten tree adorned in a vibrant, blossoming, and “snakelike” vine. The tree is described as “unlikely” and “improbable,” and the speaker’s realization such contrasting elements fused together prompts her/him to find similarly antithetical (ooh, oxymoron) situations in other aspects of this garden—the hummingbird is “more fish than bird, more insect than fish,” “sound and silence” become synonymous with each other, he/she breathes the “strange perfume of those scentless flowers.” Clearly there is significant focus on the peculiar, clashing nature of… well, nature. For this reason (as I mentioned before) I think it’s really interesting and effective for this piece to call itself a poem and have such a dense structure.

So having said this, one aspect of this poem that confuses me is the significance of the stone head. I understand that the image of the bright red apple in the menacing stone head pertains to this theme of contrast, and I notice the balanced contrast of actions in the third and the third to last sentences of the poem: “But I did not take it out” and “And I took the apple out.” I’m just having trouble understanding what the head represents, if anything. Any thoughts?