Old Tree

OLD TREE Tell of this marvelous acre The which surrounded by neighborhood Where stands the giant old tree No living soul can remember a time of sprouting The time long before neighborhood For all anyone knows the old tree has always been there Center of the mystic plot And the ground cover renews year by year In a green emerald density Here reside the burrowers, climbers, flyers, Chance residents of nature’s renewal Year after year those hungry come and go Come and go Now witness this confrontation – One fine black cat Eyes ablaze, quietly watching And a ground squirrel Peering down from half way up the old tree Trunk Chattering about who knows what, But cock sure the old tree is quite eternal, will always aid escape Three black crows at tree top taunt, screech down The drama plays out daily, Has done so for countless ages Then, in some celestial silence Should old sky reaching giant speak It would say, “I am here” Dave Austin