"Silver Maple" by Terri Lynn Cummings

Silver Maple

Terri Lynn Cummings 

Fortune stolen

limbs broken

trunk split

lightning slayed

an elder among 

the flock, fractured

Magnolia, Cherry

and Spruce, blue

sway in sorrow 

for neighbor and nest

abandoned 

to beetles, worms, and ants

All remains 

tuned 

to the pitch of Earth

and the green

tang

of release

Poet’s Notes:  Lightning destroyed a neighbor’s Silver Maple, an old gentleman who anchored their lawn. The family grieved as if the tree were human. In a way, it was, for the tree attended births and birthday parties, graduations, and marriages. The sentinel graced their lives and died, an abrupt departure that reshaped their view, yet continued in the ring of nature.