I stood when they came,
Craving sky with their cries,
Sharp as steel.
Roots deep in earth, i felt their weight-
Trembling earth, thunderous fear.
There breath,
Storm of rage and smoke,
Scorched for air, a fire storm's kiss.
I bent not though
their fury shook the soil.
And blood soaked into me,
Bitter wine.
Arrows flew like birds with broken wings
Piercing my leaves, my limbs, my skin.
The wind moaned through me,
Hollow with loss,
Cartying their death songs far and thin.
I whispered to the fallen,
Those resting at my feet.
Their hands still clutched in cold embrace,
Telling tales of light that was, of sun and shade, of peace displaced.
I drank their tears, the rain of war,
Yet i stood alone, steadfast and scarred.
Seasons will pass, their echoes fade,
But i will bear their marks, never erased.
For i am the witness, the silent stone.
Who remembers all, through time moves on.
Beneath my bark, their ghosts will sleep.
And in my shade, they forever sleep
