A Final Stand
Through the thaw of early spring, I feel the sap begin to rise,
A gentle hum of life returns beneath the warming skies.
I stretch my roots and feel the stir of sleeping life below,
And whisper to the tiny buds, "It's time for you to grow."
The sun, a lover's kiss so soft, awakens dormant things,
And I watch the forest floor erupt in green and tiny wings.
I offer up my newest leaves to welcome back the light,
And feel a strength, a tender hope, to banish winter's night.
The summer brings a heavy crown of leaves and emerald shade,
A canopy for deer and bird, a haven I have made.
I stand in sun-drenched silence, a silent, patient queen,
And watch the dappled sunlight dance on all that's lush and green.
My branches sway in summer storms, I feel the rushing wind,
And let the raindrops wash away the dust of what has been.
I hold the weight of seasons past and all that is to be,
A steady anchor in the world, a home for all to see.
A chill begins to touch the air, a whisper of what's to come,
And I feel the subtle drawing back, a quiet, gentle hum.
The fiery hues of autumn spread across my weary boughs,
A final, brilliant showing, a breaking of my vows
To hold my green and living crown against the coming cold.
I release each scarlet, gold, and bronze, a story to be told.
I watch them drift and fall away, a sorrow and a peace,
And know that this surrender brings a kind of sweet release.
Then winter comes, a cold embrace, and strips me bare and stark,
I stand a silhouette against the long and freezing dark.
The snow rests on my empty limbs, a blanket soft and deep,
While all the life that lives in me is quiet and asleep.
I listen to the forest groan beneath a frozen sheet,
And dream of distant, sun-warmed days and future summers sweet.
I wait in patient stillness for the promise of the thaw,
Secure in my great silence, held by nature's truest law.
But then a different tremor comes, not wind, nor rain, nor frost,
A tearing, burning, searing pain, a life forever lost.
A shriek of metal, sharp and cold, that slices through my core,
And all the forest rushes past, I know myself no more.
A sudden lurch, a mighty fall, a final, crashing sound,
My canopy of life and dreams now splintered on the ground.
The roots that held me fast and true, now severed from the earth,
My breath expelled, my purpose done, an end to all my worth.
I am no longer queen of green, no home for bird or bee,
Just timber felled, a memory of what I used to be.
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