In biology class we learnt that
The number of rings around a tree bark
Signified its age
Ironic though –
How you can only count those rings
And measure its life
Once you have taken it
Away.
I suppose then
Trees with thicker trunks
Have lived longer
Perhaps this is why –
I am always reassured sitting next to
This tree
With a 90 something diameter
Knowing that not all is fleeting
Knowing that it has outlived those who have come before me
and hopefully those that will come after
Knowing that it will be here
watching over us
90 years from now—
As it did
90 years before
I find comfort
Holding onto the bark
Of this 90 something year old
Tree.
YOU ARE READING
Dying of the Light
PoetryPoems about life and death, love and heartbreak and mustering the courage to go on - despite it all. Majority of this was written in 2020 and 2021 and hence is inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic, the lockdowns, the mandates and the heavy toll it took...
