Skeletal Monument

In the chilled space of time, There she stood—unperturbed; There she stood, cold and motionless As if a victim of death, but not dead; There she stoically stood—challenging All of nature; even man himself—daring. There she stood—leafless—her tall skeleton Piercing the sky as if a monument to her life And being—a naked statue with arms spread wide. If her imaging could speak, standing there, she Would probably say: “Joy not; mourn not…I shall return; I shall return in all the beauty and fullness of my being.” There she stood, gloriously rooted—nature’s most profound Teaching symbol of the essence of life, death and resurrection— Indeed, what could be more representative than a wintered tree!