Green growth surrounds the earth
Grounds it
Makes homes
For beasts both human and not

You can take a piece of wood from one
Bring some rope
To make a swing
Or use the rope for some other thing

Forests have a habit of felling
Though there are farms filled with seedlings
That take decades to stake

In one grove
You gave sight to a beech
Its arms stretched out for a span
Over a quivering pond
Where flying things flitted about
Out, over, in
Lay in the branches or under them

And on the day
The green fell
No creature saw fit to visit
Nor ask how well the water wept
All around the water left
For clearly more important things

Except the beech
It remained, mirrored by pond
Axes tried to gut it
For some reason
Could lay no harm

Its singular strength was
In the shimmer it smiled over
Smell the leaves as they ripen and fall
Oh yes, this tree aged in season
Limbs falling of its own choice
Shiver in snowflakes

The roots reached down
To heart & earth
Where none would dare
Separate