Stump's Story

Cut and fallen, nothing left, it appears,
A gnarled trunk and roots remaining,
But that's enough for the tree spirit
To endure doggedly, quietly, retaining
A hundred years of sensations,
Breezes above caressing branches
Which gave leafy haven to generations
Of lives smaller than the grand old tree,
Who now, laid-low by a chainsaw,
Embraces its existence, stoically.

(Photo by Geoffrey Hamilton, 1955-2011)