In the silence between morning birds’ song

whispered comforts or threats traverse unseen

Communities of canopies

Neighbourhoods of heartwood sheltered deep

for decades or centuries

Human steps tread past or with bravado some ascend

lookout holding steady trunks endure

fragile limbs of women and men

Night gatherings moonlit shadow shapes

sacred swaying to the rhythm of stars

Record keepers

inhaling exhaling all glory all decay all debris

Beyond the continuum of this holy life

our human eyes may glimpse a light amid seas of possibility

Yet misinterpret again and again the message of our role

and what could be

We occupy this fleeting existence so temporarily

what has been and always there will be

beyond you and me beyond all of us in our collective lack

Despite our elevated posturing our experiments our narcissism

our valour even our creativity

After we again have surrendered and ground ourselves back to dust

There will remain the one constant one glory whose truth

always was and ever will guarantee

Survival of the Tree