isolated stands
of woodland
are connected
larch and juniper
wild service tree
small leaved lime
separate moments
of alertness become
more plentiful
rivers run
freely through
alder and willow
*
aspen leaves on moss
light sprinkled over moss
stripped spruce cones
a water vole runs
out over lily pads
lichens hang from light
*
riparian trees repair
degraded river banks
slow the water flow
cool and filter water
hazel aspen alder
provide leaf litter
build shelter where
salmon and brown trout
pause and spawn
*
the dancers exceed the measure
they dance away from the figure
from a round a jig a gavotte
teach gravity without weight
*
willow and sallow
rowan and alder
wild cherry
oboe and clarinet
*
trees love to hide
from form and inference
in shade and nuance
with leaves and bark
with rings of years
they cover themselves
pull the pendulant
undulant canopy
down around you
trees love to hide
then leap out
and catch you
*
nothing happens in a wood
not the flutter of a wing
not the flicker of a thought
without a redistribution
*
in a dappled light
in the clarified air
under birch under pine
reticence as care
shades wintergreen
*
if you sit for a while
in the company of an oak
you might begin to reverse
the massive reduction
of the tree to its name
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