They know their place. Having stood their firm ground
for decades, reaffirming their vast woods,
experiencing pain of, no doubt, wounds
and loss of loved ones felled around them (could
they bring them back, they would), watching order
rise in form of houses, humans settle
and raise families, play within borders
of their yards (children testing their mettle
with rocks and carving knives), they’ve never meant
harm and never will. So when the great winds
came Thursday night, when the challenged trees bent
and roots gave way, they willed which way to bend
and fall, lying next to those they’ve nurtured
with shade, assuring their lives and future.
Roger
April 16, 2011
