Redwood Trees

A cave was cut into the redwood tree,

Sealed with a residue of ash and tar,

The blackened bark, the fire-stricken scar,

A forest collapsed into poverty,

Massive tree trunks laid out on burning ground,

Tall evergreens that God nor man could save,

The giants cast upon each other’s grave,

When no one could hear the ear-splitting sound,

Or feel the ground rumble, where living roots

Survived, inside the deep bedrock of earth,

To rise from ruin, the redwood’s rebirth,

As saplings rise from it, families of shoots,

Cling to their circle, always to remain,

All linked together in this sacred place,

Their tender branches locked in an embrace,

Turned upward to sunshine after the rain.